Soundless Shame
by Blood tinted rain
Summary: High school AU. Inaho and Slaine are best friends, sure they bicker like a married couple, but they always rely on one another. However, when one decides to show affection for the other a whole problem insinuates, a problem that neither teen know how to come about.


Theres just one thing I would like to say to the anime creators. WHATTTT THE HEEEEEEELL!?

That is all.

Alright, this is a long ass story, so you better sit tight and grab onto your orangebat shipping panties, because I'm about to give you one hell of a ride! I'm the original orangebat shipper, remember that. (Jk)

Also, writing Inaho is somewhat difficult for me? He's extremely unemotional, which can be somewhat of a hinderance when wanting to write something romantic. In romance you need a character that's very emotional, like Slaine, he makes things spicy and you can work with his type of character better...but Inaho...you don't really have much ground to work on. I can't tell you how many times I went back and had to rewrite a scene just because I felt like I gave Kaizuka "too much emotion". The struggle is real.

I don't own Aldnoah. Zero and its characters, please support the original creators: Olympus Knights and A-1 Pictures.

* * *

"_Thus you may understand that love alone is the true seed of every merit in you,_

_and of all acts for which you must atone."_

It all began with a chaste kiss. A kiss that shouldn't have been classified as a kiss at all because of how quickly it was performed and then abandoned. A kiss that shattered many walls and boundaries, yet built new ones in their places. A contact that was forbidden and bemusing, yet gradually welcomed.

This so called kiss came later on however, a kiss that became the nucleus of their guilty indulgence as teenagers. Something that, if reflected on later in life would surely cause nothing but a stir of displeasure and a shred of longing for the two young males. They wouldn't reflect on it though, only keep it silently hidden with a golden lock in the back of their minds, or perhaps even their hearts. That is, of course, when they became older, the _now _that is present is a different story.

Concerning the pinnacle of their young childish aspirations, all they could hope to do was allow their spoiled minds give them doubtful commands. Commands that forced them to believe they wanted something, when perhaps they didn't want it at all. The finest form of selfishness came from their youthful and callow minds.

To take advantage of their yearning desires akin to tragedy was their story, but in their stupidness, the slightest touch of what they believe to be love was worth only, and solely for the instant. And then it all really amounted to tragedy and nothing more. Back then they had ways of thinking that made them believe nothing was wrong, and yet, if closely inspected, held many rifts and cracks.

The fact of the matter was that it all began with a single, spontaneous show of affection. How such a small contact could bring such calamities was a peculiar thing indeed, but here the tragedies laid and there they would stay. But the two teens had no way of foreseeing these things, no way of knowing what the future held for them. And so, they act out another day as if it were nothing to them.

They were best friends you see, friends who were almost always together. One was mostly mute, unless quite comfortable with your presence he's bound to talk, but mostly mute. While the other young male was a literal explosion of stray emotions bursting at the seams. One of them, the shorter of the two, could hold the same expression for a whole day while the other couldn't even hold the same emotion for five seconds.

Polar opposites is what they were, enemies, some would call it, but they were nothing greater than best friends.

How they became best friends was truly unknown to most, some say it was through a single girl, a girl they both mutually respected and befriended. Others say it was through an online video game that was rather popular around their childhood. However, the how-it-came-to-be details are unimportant for now, the fact of the matter is that they were both best friends and, despite fighting like cats and dogs at times, they loved each other very much.

It wasn't the romantic type of love or the lustful type of love, well at least not at first. No, the primal form of their affection rooted back to that of brotherhood, and it was that type of love that held them together for almost five years.

But time had it's way of changing the almost unchangeable aspects of ones thinking, body and soul. Similar to the way time aged a person, this was a similar process with their love. Slow and gradual, dreading the bitter truth but smoldering it with indulgences of pleasures that made them both forget exactly what they were doing for a few seconds. Pleasures that should have been discarded. Abandoned. Forgotten.

'_Should have been'_ is the key phrase. But "should haves" never exist in the first place, now do they?

In that time they were still young, third year in high school to be exact. And their transition began on warm summer evening at the school's courtyard, during their lunch period they both sat nonchalantly on a wooden table.

"You coming over later?" inquired the monotone brunet with the warmest color of auburn in his eyes and a pinch of red. He doesn't even glance over at his fair-haired friend who was next to him; he was holding a book and quite engrossed with it at that.

The blond's eyes never stray from the crips, almost yellow pages of his literature. There was no need to look at his friend, for the question was one asked almost routinely. Honestly, it didn't even need to be asked anymore since the answer was always the same. It was a yes.

You see, everyday after school the two boy's would hang out and play video games, watch movies and even porn sometimes. Honestly, whatever crossed their minds at the moment to pass the time is what they did. This was a ritual for them, one that has been going on for almost five years now. It wasn't anything out of the ordinary for them.

"Yours or mine?" came the teal-eyed boy's reply, he was referring to the house they would choose to stay over this time, it was always a gamble between the two houses. Inaho's house had it's many benefits and perks—free wifi, freshly cooked meals by an older, attractive(mostly Slaine's thinking) sister, and a brand new gaming system. But Slaine's house was more unrestricted in the sense that they could discard empty bottles of soda wherever they pleased without getting an earful from an annoyed sister.

"I could care less," uttered Inaho as he leaned back, his eyes stretched out to the sky above him. Their lunch time was slowly drawing to an end and he sighed, feeling a stronger wave of lethargy creeping over the one he already felt; he didn't really feel like going to class.

"Same, honestly," came Slaine's absent-minded reply, he was indulged in his reading at the moment and the other male found it rather annoying at times. How a single book could engross the blond's attention so deeply irked Inaho to a certain degree. He could bet twenty dollars that if his best friend was surrounded by a blazing fire at the moment he wouldn't even notice it due to the book in his hand.

_It keeps his attention away from everything,_ the brunet thought as he peered at his best friend with blank eyes.

"Well I do miss your cute sister, guess it's your house then. Later, Orange." Slaine rose from the table.

Ah, yes. They had nicknames for each other. Call it cute or odd, they didn't care, everyone knew these nicknames but there was one rule, and the rule was very simple: only they could call each other by these names. Flat out simple.

"Fine. Whatever, Bat." breathed out Inaho as he got up, he began the long journey to his class.

How the names came to be is not an odd story, nothing really important or out of the ordinary. The nicknames were first created when they were in the sixth grade, and it was in that year that they had unmistakably met. They were indifferent with each other at first, then they grew into enemies, their contrasting personalities clashed inevitably.

When the due discovered their only similarity—their shared fondness for video games, particularly, war video games—they settled their disputes through an online video game. And it wasn't just any type of online game, it was THE online game that started it all. A game about earth and vers; a war between an extraplanetary force with advanced mechas and earth mechas.

Slaine's craft, Inaho would say with the flattest voice possible, resembled a dark bat, thus resulting in the nickname "Bat". While Inaho's robot was completely orange, and Slaine being the uncreative soul he was, settled for "Orange". That, an at the time Inaho's sister would buy this orange scented shampoo so it fitted well enough, at least in the blond's point of view.

Thus, the nicknames were born, but they kept these rights only reserved for themselves, no one else could use it. For someone else to call them Bat and Orange was taboo, almost blasphemy to the young boy's eyes. And no one knew why, no one but one girl.

The only other person that held the right to call them Bat and Orange was a single, blond-headed girl, but she chose not use this right bestowed upon her. She knew the boys regarded the pet names with this sort of dignity, almost as if it were sacred to them both. And she knew why, or at least to a certain extent. Inaho had once vaguely explained it to Asseylum, he told her the reason why the names were held with such high regard by both of them. She remembered the memory clearly, almost vividly.

It was one afternoon on their first year of high school, they were outside waiting for Slaine who had gotten caught up talking to one of the teachers inside of the school building. Asseylum, who was quite bashful at the time, would always recall the far-away look her auburn-haired friend held in his eyes, they way he had suddenly become distant, and somehow all the more closer to her.

Inaho had said, with eyes glazed over in reminiscence, that the names represented a true and almost unadulterated happiness, the only happiness that seemed real to them. He had explained with an indistinct sense of serenity that, in that time when nothing seemed to reach them, they could enjoy a simple day.

"To be oblivious," the brunet had explained, "was true happiness. Those names represent a part of us we never want to let go."

It was a part of their life only they knew, and because of that no one else was allowed to participate, because no one else had lived it with them, shared the same happiness it brought to them. No one else could understand and since they couldn't bring the same fondness to the names they couldn't even speak it. It wasn't right, at least in their eyes it wasn't.

If someone else were to speak those names then their childhood happiness would be dead. Because then "Orange" and "Bat" would have no true meaning, they wouldn't even exist.

But the young blond girl was the only one other than themselves that held the right to those names, because even if she didn't know it, she had been apart of that childhood fondness as well.

But of course, the girl did not know it to this day.

As Inaho walked back to class after having lunch with Slaine, (Asseylum usually attended but she had excused herself the night before with a text about orchestra practice) he placed his hands in his pockets. The sun was now in the middle of the sky in all its glory and it pounded down on him graciously, though the boy found it more of an indignation than a blessing.

He was by law, a lazy person, and would rather use his brain than his physical body. Walking to class in the middle of the soaring heat for the young teen was a task in and of itself.

A sigh escaped his lips once again, then, movement to his far right caught his attention. He doesn't want to look really, he told himself that whatever it was, he probably wouldn't even care about it. But he turned and looked, not wanting to but doing it nevertheless. What he sees really doesn't catch his attention. It was a boy and a girl, they were kissing next to a wall.

Not a big fucking deal.

The fact that they had the gall for public display intrigued Inaho to a very, very low degree. Note, very very low degree. He turned his eyes away from the sight as he passed them, he kept his steady pace and the same stoic expression he ambled in everyday. Slaine would often tease him about this, how his face was stuck with that permanent expression for the rest of his life.

And the brunet would respond with no emotion on his face. He didn't care.

He reached his class and sat in his respectable desk, the image of that couple intruded his head again and now he's perplexed. _I shouldn't even care_, he thought to himself, placing his head on his desk as he closed his eyes. He was drifting off into a comfortable sleep when a female voice roused him from it.

"Inaho, did you think you passed the test?" it was Inko, the only girl other than Seylum that Inaho regarded as a friend. She wasn't annoying or ostentatious like the rest, she was actually down to earth and he liked that about the meek girl.

"What test?" came his groggy reply.

"You don't remember, the test we took yesterday in this class. It was somewhat difficult, don't you think?"

"Not really," he murmured in his half-sleep.

"You know, I really admire you for being so smart. I wish I could hold at least the same shred of confidence in myself." the girl sighed, leaning back in her chair that was right next to his. Their teacher still hadn't arrived to class so it gave the students some time to chat, though, to Inaho it was more of a nap time.

The boy didn't know what to say so he simply said nothing, he kept his head on the table as his arms cushioned his head. Then, at an impeccable timing their teacher enters the classroom and the lecture resumes it's course. The silent brunet doesn't really pay attention this time, or any time for that matter. He didn't think high of himself but he already knew this stuff, there was no need to listen to it again.

On the other hand, and a rather stark contrast from Inaho, Slaine was to keep notes, they boy was naturally smart but he enjoyed jotting down the lessons his teachers would give. Even though the need to study wasn't a requirement for him, the blond did it anyway. He liked feeling sure of what he knew, he enjoyed deepening his knowledge whenever he could.

It was one of the few aspects in his life he had control over; it was something that kept him sane at times.

There were other aspects in his life he couldn't control so well, take his uncle as an example. His uncle, who had taken him in after his own father had died, abused him mentally, verbally and physically . Though, he didn't live with the man anymore, it still left some painful mental and physical scars.

When he was in eighth grade, a few days before his graduation day, his father had passed away due to an illness. He never knew much about his biological mother, only bits and pieces his father had filled in, but with his death even her opaque memory was gone.

Slaine's last year in middle school was suppose to mark the start of the journey from childhood to manhood, a journey that meant independance, but now, he truly was alone whether he wanted it or not. Instead of attending his own graduation, Slaine attend his father's funeral. It was on that day that he fell into the hands of his uncle Cruhteo.

The blond had never really heard much about the older male, he didn't even know he existed until he met him at the funeral. But the way his uncle had gazed at him that sunny day from across the field sparked a fear inside of Slaine, a fear that choked his insides. His uncle's merciless gaze was sharp and almost menacing in the young boy's eyes, it had been the root of apprehension for the blond for many years. Even to this day he feared that glare, those eyes, that displeasure. That man.

The teal-eyed boy soon came to realize that his fantasy world with Inaho, Asseylum and his father was over. The days of happiness had come to an abrupt end, and after a day or two with his uncle Cruhteo the beatings began. They started out subtlely, verbally and then they only progressed into fights, bruises and scars that he couldn't hide.

His two best friends—Inaho and Seylum were furious but there was nothing they could do, that didn't stop them from desperately trying to defend Slaine. They even got some teacher involved, yet somehow his uncle always got away with what he did. Even though they fought and fought he had no where else to go, no one else he could run to. Slaine didn't want to burden his two best friends with his own bad misfortune; they had problems of their own.

It hadn't been too long that Inaho had lost his parents, he was still suffering their loss even if he didn't like showing it. Asseylum was taking care of her sick sister along with her dying grandfather. They all had a rough life ahead of them.

And so it meant Slaine was trapped in hell for one whole year, but it all changed when he turned sixteen. That was when he was taken into custody by the Saazbaum family. It was the head of that family that took him away from his uncle and gave him a new home.

Luckily enough, the Saazbaum family was on the rich side and it was more than enough to grant Slaine's any wish, yet he didn't liked that lifestyle. He was never use to getting what he wanted so it was inevitable that he wanted solitude. It was Slaine's choosing to live alone, and fortunately Sir Saazbaum allowed him that request. He even granted him a small house, it was a humble one but it served it's purpose.

Now, more than a year later, Slaine is much more stable, though his uncle tended to show up unannounced at times and give him a fresh taste of reality. But it was much better than before which, in his first year of high school, it was a daily thing. Now, his uncle rarely showed up, and when he did Slaine held his ground with the help of Inaho. He was always there next to him, which relieved the boy.

Life was finally starting to look up for the fair-haired boy. But it was only a calm before the storm, after all, life had it's devious ways of knocking someone on their ass.

When school finally ended for the teens, they were heading home as the orange sun descended into the horizon. After they walked Asseylum to home, the two young males amble side by side.

"Porn or video games?" questioned Inaho as they walked down the vacant streets to his residence. The orange glow of the setting sun ahead of them was in full effect and for a moment all they could see was the glow.

"Video games is a must." replied Slaine, holding his bag over his shoulder as he stared at the last rays of sunshine.

"Porn is a must, too." the brunet spoke with jest, they didn't really spend much time watching porn, only sometimes and that wasn't many. Not only did they have the fear of Inaho's sister barging in at any given moment, but they rather much play video games. Yet that didn't stop them from joking around about it though.

"Ah, that's true," Slaine grinned.

Suddenly, the image of the kissing couple protrudes Inaho's mind again; he makes no visible sign of it, but he was slightly bothered. Why was it nagging at him so much?

"Hey, have you ever kissed someone?" is the brunet's next question, and it was immediately met with furrowed eyebrows and a quizzical look from his gaming partner.

"Sure have," came Slaine's reply nonetheless, and this seemed to stun Inaho only in the slightest, though his face never showed it. _When had it happened? And if so, why hadn't he told me_? is what he thought.

"Don't lie." Inaho said.

"It's not a lie, although, it wasn't really of my choosing."

"How so?"

"A random girl stole my first kiss," he said with eyes that displayed more annoyance than he would have like to put off, though there was a distant look to them. "She claimed she wanted to just 'talk with me', bunch of bullshit that was. Before I could do or say anything she flat out kissed me." the boy adjust the bag over his taunt shoulder. Inaho, who remained passive, said nothing more. He thought that maybe that was the reason why Slaine hadn't said anything about the kiss, because it hadn't been consensual nor mutual.

"How was it? How did it feel?" the auburn-haired male asked next as he looked over at his best friend with a flat look.

"Don't know, too quick to even care, I didn't like her obviously. I guess the only thing I could say in her defense was that her lips were soft?" Slaine shrugged his shoulders, then he turned to look at the shorter boy next to him, a cynical grin on his face. "What about you?"

"Never." is Inaho's blunt reply, he wasn't all that ashamed of it, he didn't go around kissing all the girls that liked him or vice versa (which were few). No one really caught his attention for that matter, so it was reasonable, at least to him. Slaine, however, found this fact to his advantage and decided to tease his best friend about it.

"So you're still pure? That's cute." he chuckled, his brown-headed best friend remained emotionless, he honestly didn't care what anyone thought. Slaine was exactly the same as him, after all.

"So are you." retorted Inaho.

"Ah, that might be true,"

And that was that, the end of that conversation. They make it to Inaho's house, greet his sister, eat some leftover pizza and up to Inaho's room they went, chatting and bickering at the same time. Amongst eating chips and drinking soda, the two boys played video games all evening, over and over again as if their life depended on it. Slaine was on the floor, his back leaning on Inaho's bed which was directly in front of the TV.

The brunet was on top of the bed, laying on his belly with his feet where his head should be, to stay upright he put all of his weight on his elbows as he held his game controler. They played vs and the blond was the one with the highest set of kills.

"Damn!" the male on the floor grinned from ear to ear, he bobbed his head up and down to express his uncontained excitement. "This is the fourth time I beat you, Orange! _Fourth _time, any other day you would have wipe the floor with me. What's wrong with you? You losing your edge?" Slaine laughed loudly as he pressed the buttons to his controler wildly.

Inaho was in a different state altogether, he was calm and collective but his attention wasn't on the game like it should have been. It was on his best friend, or rather his lips to be more specific. Those pink lips that were moving so fast at the moment. He was staring at them and he couldn't look away, he didn't even care that he had lost to Slaine multiple times now. The shame was outweighed by a deeper need inside his brain.

Unaware of Inaho's gaze, Slaine kept that wide smile on his face, resembling the young kid he once was.

"Bat," called out Inaho, who had stopped moving his controller all together. The other male didn't notice much, he kept his eyes glued on the screen, thinking nothing of his friend's serious tone.

"What?" he mumbled, partially uninterested with the answer, he was too caught up in his hype.

"Bat," Inaho said once more but the other's eyes were still on the TV. Damn, he wasn't budging.

"What is it? You butthurt that I'm finally kicking your ass?" another wave of boyish chuckles came from the lighter-skinned boy.

"Slaine," the name erupted from Inaho's mouth with a darker tone.

And that was the moment Slaine decided to tilt his head upward, he turned his head to look over at Inaho, expecting his best friend's face to be distant. Except, when he turned, Inaho's face was very, very close to his. So close that Slaine's nose brushed against the other's by accident, his eyes caught sight of the richest color of auburn and his lips were caught against the other male's.

It was only a couple of seconds long, two or three, four tops. That was how long it lasted, their chaste kiss. Eyes wide, the blond boy lurched backward, he fell on his side and released his controler with a ragged flinch. He doesn't say a thing, only breathes as he steadies himself, his heart pounding, his lips quivered as he stares up at the neutral-eyed Inaho.

It was only after ten full seconds of silence that Slaine regained his lost voice once again, amongst the loud tremor of his pounding heart he had found it, somehow. Miraculously.

"What the hell?" he said with a stunned-angry tone, he placed the back of his closed fist over his mouth in a defensive posture. "What the hell was _that_?" he repeated, angrier than the last.

Inaho kept that steady gaze on his face, as if he had done nothing wrong. "A kiss, I thought you knew."

"Don't play dumb with me!" the other male growled out.

"What? I just wanted to see what it felt like." the brunet replied composed as he readjust his controler in his hands, he took his eyes off Slaine and he moved them to the TV.

"_What they felt like?"_ Slaine repeated the words with a hint of spite. "Is that some kind of joke Kaizuka?" the teal-eyed male got up and yanked the controller out of Inaho's hands, and he knocked it out of his grasp. "Are you bullshitting me?" he flared as the controller rattled on the floor.

Inaho remained silent for a while, he gave Slaine an are-you-serious look, it was intimidating but the blond strained to remain unfazed.

"There's nothing wrong with it, just drop it." Inaho said, getting rather fed up with Slaine. It was just a simple kiss. What was the big deal?

"No, I won't drop it. Your a boy, I'm a boy. Boy's aren't supposed to do things like that with each other! Christ, Inaho!"

"Says who?"

"Society!"

"When did you start caring about society?" the boy on the bed glanced up and gave his friend a quizzical frown.

"When did you stop caring?"

"Birth, probably."

"You can't do things like that out of the blue , Inaho! Dammit!" and with a slam of the door his best friend was gone, Inaho remained on his bed unperturbed, he glanced down at the drink Slaine had left unfinished. He leaned down and grabbed the container, while he was at it he reached for his controler as well. After taking a sip of the soda he began to play single mode like nothing had occurred.

_He'll get over it,_ he thought, _probably_. But Slaine didn't get over it, four days passed and he was still not over it. On the fifth day, Inaho and Asseylum were forced to eat lunch without the blond once again.

"You guy's are still ignoring each other? What exactly happened this time? Get into another fight?" asked Asseylum as she handed Inaho a bottle of water that was half-empty, the boy took it from her grasp and gulped down some fluid.

"Guess he's still mad, I'm not, though." he replied, handing her the bottle again.

They were outside as accustomed for them during lunch time, they would always meet in this area; they liked it because no one ate out there anymore. Now their group of three was incomplete, Slaine had decided to skip lunch with them _again_, and it's been like that for the past four days.

He was assiduously avoiding Inaho altogether.

The golden-haired girl took another swig of water and passed it down to her chestnut-haired friend. "Yeah, but what happened?" she inquired as she ran her hands down her smooth, fair hair.

"We got into some type of disagreement, I suppose," Inaho replied, he took another gulp and passed it.

"Over videogames?" Asseylum drank the last bit of water and with a satisfied sigh, threw the plastic container into a nearby trash bin from where she sat.

"Yes," lied Inaho as he recalled the feel of his best friend's lips on his. Maybe, just maybe it hadn't been such a good idea to kiss Bat? It didn't seem that bad of an idea when it popped in his head. The kiss wasn't suppose to mean anything after all, he had just wanted to get it off his chest. That's all. Why was Slaine acting like such a drama queen?

"Well," began Asseylum, "I'm use to your fights but this one has gone on for too long. You really made him mad, didn't you?" she chuckled, enjoying the feel of the sun on her skin as she leaned back, elbows taunt and hands on the rough wood.

"You think so?" Inaho cocked his head toward the sky like he often did, he caught sight of two black birds circling the sky. _Death_, he thought , _something's dead nearby. _But that thought slowly escaped him, what really nagged at him was his best friend being enraged with him.

"Well, he doesn't want to talk to you. Maybe you should take the initiative and go see him. He won't listen to me when I tell him to approach you and make up already." sighed the azure-eyed girl.

"What makes you think he'll listen to me if he doesn't even want to listen to you?" the brunet almost scoffed.

"I don't know...you guys always shared this deep bond. I feel like any problem you face can be overcomed, it's just the way it is." Asseylum turned her eyes on Inaho, her orbs held true credibility, as if her answer was the most reasonable thing there was. the monotone boy could only gazing at her her silently.

"The three of us are like that, we can overcome anything." he said then as he returned to the sky once again, enjoying the moment of shadow they received from a passing cloud.

"I hope that's true." he heard the smile in the girl's voice. Once lunch time ended they both get up and walk a steady pace toward the building. When they reach the point where they had to part, Asseylum took hold of Inaho's hands in her softer ones, and she smiled up at him brightly.

"Try to patch things up with him, okay?"

He nodded.

"Oh, don't wait for me after school, I have practice again."

"Sure thing,"

Then they part ways and Inaho is alone again, he walked slowly with both hands in his pockets. He passed the spot where he had witnessed the young couple making out and he stared at the empty space. What was so different from what him and Slaine had done? He didn't see anything wrong. Had he missed something? Had he done it wrong? Yeah, maybe that was it, maybe Slaine was mad because he had kissed him wrong.

"_Boy's aren't suppose to do those kinds of things with each other!"_

The words echo in his head, causing a foul mood to settle itself within Inaho. He dismissed it and headed to class, after school he waited for Slaine in front of building as usual. Inaho had been waiting for him all week as well, but his blond friend was always a no show and it ended up with Inaho walking home alone. Four times this had happened, five time's a charm.

As all students cleared the area, the silent brunet was the only one still waiting. Not fully sure if Slaine would show up or not, he was a mere second from turning away and leaving. Then, he heard it, that voice that held so much raw emotion, yet, bizarrely excited him in the smallest of ways.

"You actually waited..._again_."

Inaho looked back at Slaine with a plainly look, he nods his head and placed his hands in his pockets. "Why wouldn't I?" he said as a light breeze picked up between them.

"Because I've been ignoring you. I've been going through a different route every day."

"I know that."

"And yet, you still waited. You're an idiot, Orange. What if I left you waiting here again?" a slight smirk tugged at the end of the taller boy's lips.

"But you didn't," was Inaho's short, unenthusiastic reply. Then, after they had fallen in sync as they walked he asked "Your's or mine?"

"Tch, your's."

And so they head for Inaho's house, they conversated like before, though the topic about the kiss was silently off limits. The tanner male knew the boundaries and when not to cross them, he knew his best friend would probably ignore him even if he did bring the topic up.

He almost wanted to bring it up, but ultimately, decided against it. Inaho was shrewd, he knew it was the smarter course of action, and he always, always took the smartest rout.

They make it to his house in one piece and his sister greeted Slaine with a soft hug, she claimed she hadn't seen him in ages. "What happened? You girls fight again?" she snorted and laughed as both males ascend the stairs to Inaho's room, ignoring the woman's teasing.

"I was only kidding!" they hear moments later from below, and then more laughter erupts from below.

"Quite a chatterbox, she's still cute though." Slaine commented as he took his place on one of the gaming chairs in his best friend's room. The other male handed him a can of soda as he perched himself on his bed, ignoring the comment of his sister.

It wasn't jealousy, just slight irritation. That's all.

"I got this new movie, haven't watched it yet. Do you want to watch it?" inquired Inaho, turning on his TV and gaming console.

"What's it about?" the blond took a sip of his drink, he turned the chair in its axis slowly as he looked at the moving ceiling.

"Eh, zombies. Typical cheesy zombies."

"Those are always the best."

Taking that as a yes, the brunet presses play and they begin to watch. The main character was a beautiful, tenacious girl with a knack for killing the undead. A good thirty minutes into the movie and there was a kissing scene between the main character and her love interest. And of course, Slaine would react to it, Inaho witnessed the boy tense and shift on his seat. It was kind of hard to tell in his dark room, but Inaho swore he saw a slight red hue tinted his cheeks.

The blond tried to play it off by taking a long swig of his drink, yet the other male knew he was trying to conceal his nervousness, or somehow try to swallow it down along with his drink. On the other hand, Inaho couldn't care less really, he didn't feel anything kindle because of the scene.

The action began in the movie and he witnessed Slaine visibly relax, the rest of the night went by pretty normal. Two weeks pass without a hitch, and their relationship had settled back down into the normal bickering/brotherly relationship it had once been, or at least that was the way it looked from the outside. For Slaine however, it was another story completely.

Actually, ever since Inaho had kissed him he hadn't been able to forget it. About everything, the feel of it, the emotions that began to sprout and root around him, his heart pounding wildly. But most of all the _feel_, oh the feel.

No, if anything, it made the teal-eyed male that much more aware of just how much time he spent with his best friend, how often they spoke, little things that didn't and _shouldn't _matter, mattered now. Slaine was now even more in toon in how Inaho's voice sounded. His freaking voice for God's sake!

And the worst part of it all was that he noticed just how attractive his counterpart was. He shook his head, no, he shouldn't be aware of those kinds of things at all.

It also didn't help that Inaho was touching him a lot more now, any chance he got actually. Or maybe he had always touched him this much, but it was only until now that he was realizing it. It could range from an innocent brush of shoulders, a hand to his arm to stop him from knocking into something occasionally, or a hand to his chest when the bickering exceeded dangerously.

At one point, while they were in the hallway at school, it had gotten so crowded that Slaine's body (which was directly in front of Inaho) pressed back into the brunet's chest. He felt his slim figure mold to his best friend's chest and it made him rigid to the touch, the auburn-haired male noticed it as well and looked away. They both did not speak of the incident, it was a silent dilemma between the two.

Yet, it didn't stop the fact that Slaine felt this heat settle near his stomach, or maybe even further below, it was almost a pulsating sensation that he couldn't control.

What the hell was it?

The feeling had progressed so much more now that he could literally feel the brunet's intense gaze boring holes into him. The blond was uncomfortable to be left alone with the brunet, around school he made sure Asseylum was always there as a mediator. His usual travels to Inaho's house had became more distant in occurrence, less and less he went, and now he spent more time with his other half, Asseylum.

That's where he was now actually, with her in a small park close to the girl's house. She was feeding some birds near the playground, a grand smile played on her youthful face. Nothing seemed to worry her, not even the problems she faced in her own home. The sight was almost breathtaking.

"Say, Slaine, what do you think about Hana Hisakawa?" she spoke, standing erect as the soft glow of the setting sun seeped through her golden hair. She pulled some stray locks behind her ear and it made Slaine cheeks burn slightly; I guess now would be the best time to let you know that the blond boy harbor a slight crush for the girl, ever since middle school to be exact.

Yet, he never got the chance to tell her, nor the courage. Inaho, at one point, had encouraged him to confess but Slaine always held back, he didn't want to ruin the great relationship they already had.

"Hana who?" the male raised an eyebrow as his blue orbs remained on the maiden in front of him, he had his hands in his pocket as the soft wind tousled his pale-blond hair.

"Hana!" she said the name louder, as if force itself would help him remember the person. She giggled. "You really don't know, huh? You're hopeless!"

The blond male rubbed the back of his neck, quite abashed honestly. His eyes skimmed the setting sun as if he were lost in thought. "Sorry," he didn't really need to apologize but he did it anyway.

Asseylum giggled some more, God, he loved her giggles. "Well, it's okay really. She just kept asking me about you, I think she likes you."

"Oh?" he sounded interested but honestly he wasn't, not in the slightest.

The blond girl looked over at the vacant swings behind them then, and smiled. Seizing Slaine's hand in her's she dragged him to sit on one of them rather hurriedly. "Yeah," she resumed the conversation moments later as she takes her own seat, she began to swing back and forth lightly. "She has the hots for Inaho, too."

Slaine's eyebrows rise with reserved interest. "Does she now?" he spoke carefully.

"Yeah, they keep telling me how I have two hot friends, can you believe that?" she chuckled as the wind zipped past her face.

The boy smiled then, a charming smile really. A smile that made Asseylum think he could have any girl he wanted. "Well, they wouldn't be lying." he joked.

"Oh shut up!"

They fall into silence, a pleasant silence that only came when two good friends spent time together. The only thing that could be heard between them was the consecutive creaking of metal against metal coming from Seylum's swing. But the girl coudln't help but feel like someone was missing.

"Slaine," Asseylum uttered as she came to a gradual halt, she held the metal chains in both of her hands as she looked at the dirt under her feet. "Why are you here?" she inquired, almost taking it all back at once. Slaine turned to look at her with slight shock, he produced a confused frown but somehow he knew what she meant. The girl peaked between her hair to look at her handsome friend. "Is it because you don't want to be with Inaho?"

"Hime, that's not it," came the boy's reluctant reply.

"I mean, I know it's a silly question to ask but...you two seem different. I know you just got over a fight weeks ago but...what really happened between you two?" she looked over at the male fully, now with questionable but oh-so gentle eyes.

What could he tell her? I mean, what could he _truly _tell her?

Slaine himself didn't even want to admit his growing feelings, nor did he understand what they were and what the hell he was suppose to do with them. It was all Orange's fault.

"I don't know," he said before he can even catch himself, he said it with the utmost defeat in his voice. The girl with golden hair said nothing, she gazed at her best friend a while longer until she reached a silent conclusion somewhere in her head. She leaned over and grabed one of his hand in her's anew. The boy looked up and she smile at him, causing a smile to spread between his own cheeks.

"I hope it gets fixed, whatever it is, it pains me to see you two like this. So distant," she almost whispered and Slaine's eyes glaze over with appreciation. His hime always knew what to do and what to say, that was why he considered her his princess, his ultimate love that he didn't deserve.

He didn't deserve her.

Later that night, once Slaine returned home and had taken a shower, he was coiled up in bed. It was a bit past ten and he was clutching his cell phone near his chest, a frown set on his smooth face. He was currently debating whether he should text Inaho or not. They had rarely spoken at all that day and Asseylum's words rang in his head. Yet, every time he came close to texting him, the boy would always sigh and press the phone back down onto his chest and start debating all over again.

After another ten minutes of debating he finally decides that enough was enough, with his hands that were slightly sweating, he sent his best friend a simple '_Hey, we need to talk'_. He kept waiting and waiting for the reply, when his phone did finally buzz with a text he wasted no time in checking it, though, what it said was far from what he expected or wanted.

_Orange: The contact name says Bat, so I'm assuming this is Slaine, right? Inaho is a bit busy right now._

This strange message brought a crease between the boy's brow. Just who had replied? Had he perhaps sent the message to the wrong person? Slaine checked it and it was indeed Orange who he had sent it to, so then, who was this answering his texts?

_**Bat: Who is this?**_

_Orange: It's Calm, you know, from second period? Inaho invited me over._

Slaine took a sharp breath, fighting back the small ounce of jealousy that entered his system in that instant, of course, he didn't admit it was jealousy. Rather, he convinced himself it was just a bother to have someone else respond for Inaho. Yes, that was it. A much better alternative.

_**Bat: Where is Inaho?**_

_Orange: Bathroom, did you need him for something?_

_Well, I'm not going to tell you, _is Slaine's line of thought but he doesn't send that to Calm, thinking it might be too rude. Instead, he settled with a more reasonable and politer text.

_**Bat: No, it's fine.**_

Back in the Kaizuka's residence, Inaho entered his room while fixing his belt as he sat on his gaming chair once again, grasping the controller in his left hand, he puts on a head piece around his neck and ear with his right hand.

"What's the stats on the game?" he eye the TV as he spoke to Calm, who is laying on his bed.

"Nothing much happened since you were gone. By the way, Slaine texted you, he sounded like he wanted to talk or something." the boy said through a mouth full of chewy candy.

At this the brunet perked. "He did?" he spoke to himself more than to his spiky-haired friend, he reached over to the bed and picked up his phone, quickly scanning the messages.

Inaho frowned as soon as he noticed that Calm had replied without his consent. "And you texted him back yourself?" he inquired, rather annoyed that his friend had the boldness to go through his phone.

"Yeah, sorry I hope you don't mind." Calm scratched his stomach.

"I _do _mind." is his curt reply as he types away at the screen, sending Slaine a short message. 'Need me?' is all he put.

"Geez, sorry man." the spiky-haired male said but he was ignored by Inaho, instead he concentrate on the game in front of him. Calm was certainly not Slaine, he could never replace the almost perfect bickering him and his best friend shared.

No, this boy, though a well-intentioned, gave up way too easily. He didn't even dare put up a fight and that made the whole gaming process that much more dull. He actually missed the teal-eyed boy's smart remarks and cocky grins, it put a little flavor into the, almost monotone, routine.

A few minutes later and he received a text, Inaho quickly glanced at the screen. If he could show any emotion, he would have smirked, but he didn't show emotion, so he didn't.

_**Bat: So you replaced me.**_

It wasn't a question, it was a declaration. _Oh, spicy,_ Inaho thought.

_Orange: What of it? Jealous?_

_**Bat: Not even close.**_

_Orange: You were with Hime all evening, I wasn't about to stay bored. Plus, his kisses are far more superior than yours._

The auburn-haired teen wondered momentarily if he was taking it too far with the last joke, after all the 'kiss' topic was still unspoken of and quite fresh. On the other hand, the brunet was fed up with the ice that had collected between him and his best friend. He was tired of the other male feeling uncomfortable with his presence, and over a small insignificant kiss no less.

For God's sake, it couldn't even be classified as a kiss in Inaho's opinion. It was far too fast, too brief, just a brush. Nothing more, nothing less.

_**Bat: Why you...why don't you just stop texting me altogether if you're so preoccupied with other things?**_

_Orange: And pass up teasing you? Nah._

_**Bat: Hime held my hand today.**_

It was Slaine's sorry attempt at a teasing Inaho, and it did work to some degree. But he told himself he didn't care. That's what he always told himself.

_Orange: That's the most you've done with her._

_**Bat: Bastard, she's not a toy. She deserves the highest form of respect.**_

_Orange: I know, I was kidding._

_**Bat: Well your jokes are stale, just like your face.**_

_Orange: All the girls dig it though._

_**Bat: Girls that you don't even notice.**_

_Orange: I notice, I just choose to not care._

_**Bat: Sure... so did you know about this Hana girl? Hime was telling me a bit about her fondness over the both of us.**_

Inaho glanced at the text but doesn't respond for a good hour, he was rather busy playing the game in front of him to reach for his phone again. After Calm had left, the young teen decided to take a well-deserved shower. He walked back into his room and sat on his bed, his hair was soaking wet as he draped an orange towel over his chestnut locks. He had on a loose black shirt and some baggy shorts, he ruffled his hair with the towel as he reached over for his cell.

He had three unread messages, one from Slaine, who seemed rather pissed off, another from Asseylum and one from Calm, who had not too long ago left his house. He read the spiky-haired boy's text first.

_**Calm: Left my school blazer on your bed, think you can hand it to me at school tomorrow? Thanks, bud.**_

Inaho typed a short 'yes', he then moved onto Seylum's message.

_**Hime: Let's hang out tomorrow, yes? :)**_

_Inaho: Yes, tell Mr grouchy bat._

Then, Inaho moved onto the message he wanted to read the most, Slaine's.

_**Bat: And you get angry at me for ignoring you when I read a good ass book but here you are ignoring me over a good ass video game. Hypocrite.**_

Now that Calm was no longer there, the brunette let a slight grin spread across his face. Slaine always had that amazing gift to do that to him. The whole night is spent texting back and forth with both his best friends, half of the time he fought with Slaine, while Seylum and him had good-hearted conversations. He loved both very much and enjoyed their small talks they had.

The next day he handed Calm's blazer in front of Slaine, who remained silent overall but observed the exchange with a narrowed gaze. After school the three teens go out to eat, play some video games at a local arcade and kill time near Asseylum's house.

Yet, during the whole day there was an unspoken secret between the two males. It was manifested in the way they would occasional steal glances at each other, or in an unintended brush of the skin that made them both blink. How they would instinctively remain close to each other but not close enough to draw attention from everyone else's perspective. Their eyes were boring holes into each other the whole time but they wouldn't admit it, they wouldn't admit to a truth that bemused them both.

They just kept gazing at each other.

* * *

"Who do you think is cuter? Inaho or Slaine?" a female voice chirped happily the next school morning, a grand smile played across her pastel cheeks as she directed her pearly white teeth toward her group of overly excited friends.

"Slaine's eyes are the prettiest!" another short-haired girl squealed, sighing loudly with love-struck eyes.

"True, but Inaho get's points for dressing well." another girl reasoned.

"Slaine does, too?" the short-haired girl retorted.

"He does, but Inaho is a bit better in that department." her somewhat rival smirked.

"Slaine is more approachable." A shy girl said.

"Inaho is somewhat quiet." one placed a delicate finger over her mouth, to indicate just how quite the brunet was.

"Hostile, I would say!" the girl with short hair huffed.

"Yeah but it's the quiet ones that are the freaks in bed, remember? 'Kawaii in the streets, senpai in the sheets'." one girl pointed out matter-of-factly.

Someone else agreed with her, and she nodded head. "Yes! Inaho looks like the type to give you a good go!"

"Slaine is hotter though!"

"You're biased, Mitchell, you've had a crush on him for a year now!"

"I agree with Mitchell, though, Slaine is not only a bit cuter, although, both are very hot. But Slaine is more in touch with his feminine side." one girl bragged as if that were the golden characteristic they looked for in every male. All the girls lean in to get a good listen.

"How so?" they all asked simultaneously.

"One time he walked Fuchijima to the nurses office, he even made sure she was okay throughout the day. Also, he fainted during a dissection class last year. But that's not it!" the girl paused to take a breath as her friends grew closer and closer to her.

"Spill the beans already, dammit!" one screamed, growing rather impatient.

"I heard he's rather big downstairs."

Everyone gasped. "No way!" they all squeaked with grand blushes on their faces.

"Asseylum is so lucky to have them both all to herself, every one knows that Kaizuka and Troyard are one of the hottest boys in school, everyone except her! She's so ungrateful!"

"Well, it's not like anyone hasn't tried to hook up with them! They just don't want anything to do with us." the girl pouted.

"But I heard a rumor that Slaine had a crush on Asseylum, though?" one girl raised a skeptical eyebrow.

"Yeah I heard that, too." Another girl agreed, and suddenly they all sighed. "Lucky…" they sighed as they all caved into defeated looks.

Then the leader of the group clasped her hands together loudly, collecting the attention of each and every girl in the group once again. All but forgetting her foul mood, she smirked with a hint mischief. "Yaoi ship, who would you ship out of the boys in school?"

"Inaho and Clam!" one said.

"Inaho and Slaine!" another almost screamed.

"Slaine and Harklight!" someone bellowed.

"Slaine and Inaho!"

"Inaho and nurse Yagarai!"

They all look at the one who had blurted the last one with a questionable eyebrow, the said girl only shrugged her shoulders. "I girl can fantasize, right?"

"Okay," the ringleader continued. "Canon couple out of all them?"

"Inaho and Slaine." two voted as if they were in a judicial court. "No! Slaine and Harklight!" two other's argued.

"Crack couple?"

"Inaho and nurse Yagari." they give their friend a slight glance.

"Brotp?"

"Inaho and Calm."

"Definitely Inaho and Calm." another one nodded.

"Agreed, so Inaho and Slaine are the canon couple. I approve!" and suddenly all the girls put their hands in the air as if they had passed down some great judgment; and really this was all that went through their young minds because they didn't have any other things to worry about.

Then, a new face joined the group, a gentler one with blue eyes as bright as the clear sky. Asseylum walked up to the chatting girls with a warm smile, it was early in the morning and she had just entered the classroom.

"Hey guys!" she greeted, waving a delicate hand in the air.

"Hey!" they all greeted bacl, "we were just talking about your boys."

"Inaho and Slaine?" the fair-haired girl tilts her head to the side, silently wondering why they would be talking about them, she was getting on the defensive now.

"Yeah, we were all just saying how Inaho and Slaine are the canon couple." one of them said, hopping behind Asseylum as she placed her hands over her shoulders.

"Canon couple?" she looked back at the girl.

"Oh!" one faked a surprised gasp, "don't tell me you don't know!"

"Know what?" Asseylum turned to at the other girl.

"That they are the canon couple!"

"What's a canon couple?" the blond girl wrinkled her nose to the foreign term in her vocabulary.

One girl with short hair leaned on her desk. "You know, the couple that's most likely going to end up together in an anime."

Asseylum was beyond perplexed now. "And that's Inaho and Slaine?"

"Yeah! But I wonder who is the uke and who the seme is?" a girl with long brown hair placed a slim finger over her lips in a sign of great perplexion, as if the answer itself could solve all her problems.

"Oh I bet Inaho is the seme! He is independent and rather hostile at times, he looks like the type to give out commands."

"Slaine does appear like the uke type, oh how dreamy." another wave of perverted giggles spread amongst the junior girls, and a confused Seylum was caught in the middle of it all.

"Wait, what the hell is a uke and seme?" she questioned.

"You really are hopeless," one girl closed her eyes in near exasperation. "If you must know an uke is a boy in a yaoi manga who usually takes the bottom place in sex, in other words he's the passive-submissive type. And a seme is the one who is almost always on top, hes the one who makes the commands and does the other one in the—"

"Okay! Okay! I get it, that's enough!" Asseylum's eyes almost bulged out of thier socets; never had she heard of something so embarrassing. The thought of Inaho and Slaine doing those things set something inside of her stomach, a mixture of nervousness and bafflement. But then something peculiar happened, she almost found the idea a bit appealing. She placed her cool hands over her burning cheeks, as her eyes wander off to the side.

"Is that what they are…" she whispered almost to herself.

A girl placed a palm on the blonde's shoulder sympathetically. "Well, in our minds they are, don't worry, they're not really gay. We just like to play this game, it's exciting. Right?"

Seylum let's out a breath she hadn't known she was holding. "A game? That's all!" _for a second there..._she thinks.

"Right! Oh, I have a grand idea!" the ring leader's eyes gleam cynically, she gathered the group of girls near her with wide arms over their shoulders, leaving the blonde out of their enclosed circle. She heard them whisper and giggle, a couple of shaved legs bounced in the air excitedly at whatever the other girl was whispering. Then, they all turn to Asseylum with darker eyes than before, almost hungry eyes praying on their unfortunate pray, the girl with golden hair gulped audibly.

"Say, Seylum, let's make a small bet…" they all came closer and closer to her, and she tried inching away.

"W-what is it…?" she all but stuttered.

And that's when it all really began.

* * *

Lunch time rolled around and the nervous, yet enthusiastic Asseylum walked over to their usual meeting spot. Inaho nor Slaine had showed up yet and that gave her enough time to contemplate the best way to explain the current dilemma she had so gracefully gotten herself into.

'_How the hell am I supposed to do this?_' she thought.

Then, the girl caught sight of brown locks swaying comfortably in the wind, she looked up and watched the boy with a flat expression make his way towards her. Seylum frowned at the lack of blond hair beside the brunet. She was about to ask about Slaine but he beats her to it.

"He had to talk with his counsellor." informed Inaho, perching himself next to the beautiful girl with gold hair, the said girl sighed and gripped her hands together. This action caught the boy's attention, he made note that this wasn't her usual behaviour, that action only happened when she had something on her mind.

"Nervous?" he said, and that lone word made her jolt.

"No!" she said quickly.

"Tell me what's wrong." he said without even looking at her.

"Is it that noticeable?" she smiled pathetically.

"Painfully," he said bluntly, and that was Inaho, blunt as a rusted knife but sharp as filed sword.

"Well, I'm in a little pinch, you see I made a bet with a few girls in my class…" she twirled her thumbs in her lap because it's the only thing she can do to keep the nervousness at bay, then she moved onto a strand of her hair..

"What kind of bet? Nothing good, certainly."

"Uhm, well, er…" she looked to the ground, then her eyes danced to her feet, anywhere but Inaho. "I told them I could get you and Slaine to hold hands."

There it was, out in the open now for everyone to bare, but no one really bared it, only Inaho heard it and he remained still without so much as a twitch from his face.

"How long?" he asked in a serious tone, he doesn't even move an inch.

"One minute." whispered the girl, glancing over at Inaho only after the silence had spread between them for long enough. Though, to her utter shock the boy didn't seem bothered at all, neither did the slightest hint of embarrassment seemed to sprout on his face. No, actually, if Asseylum could describe his appearance at that very moment it would have been a distinct, blithe smirk of enjoyment. He almost looked eager to get to the task, in that moment Inaho made a face that the young girl had never seen before, never had such an emotions fluttered across the boy's impregnable face.

And then it was gone like a passing second lost in the numerous fields of time, but she would never forget that look. Not ever.

"Fine, I'm only doing this for you, hime." Inaho got up, forgetting about lunch completly. He stretched his arms and legs casually.

"Really?" the girl perked up and the male in front of her gave her the same bored expression.

"Does it look like I'm joking?" he spoke with a hint of satisfaction in his voice. "After school I'll be in the library with Slaine, you get all those blabbering girls and bring them with you. I want you to sit in a place that keeps you from being seen by Slaine. If he notices you he'll start to get suspicious. It'll happen there, I'll win that bet for you. Only for you." he said, but the girl couldn't help feel like half of his declaration was a lie, or almost a lie.

Was it really only for her? Or for him, too? Perhaps both?

Asseylum shook her head, she wouldn't think of it anymore, did it even really matter? Probably not. After lunch they both head to their separate classrooms like any other day, today was a day like many others in the past and yet it was the most alternating one as of yet. But none of them knew it, none of them could hope to expect the unexpected.

They were only really concerned with their small world that currently revolved around a small group of people and problems, nothing really reached them. They couldn't see beyond the wall that was in front of them because they simply weren't aware of that wall, but soon, that wall would crumble and a new field was left for them to explore.

So when the final bell rang, signaling the end of school, all three young souls headed to the library. There was the two young males that bickered, although it was half-sided with Slaine growling over Inaho's stupid idea of going to the library instead of each other's houses. Of course he didn't know about the bet, he didn't know about the plot that held him as they key role in it all.

Then there was Asseylum heading to the same location with the group of giggling girls behind her, they were all incredulous, they didn't think little hime could pull the strings. But they were about to get another think coming, and maybe the very same surprise was about to dawn on the two males.

The boys settle in the library and the blond couldn't help but speak. "Inaho…" Slaine tapped his foot on the floor impatiently as he and the brunet sat together on one of the many seats. "Why are we here again?" he asked irritably.

"Hanging out." was the brunet's half-hearted reply, his eyes were scanning the large area for a top of glod hair.

The poor oblivious fair-haired male sighed. "But why _here_, of all places?"

And then Inaho spoted her, the girl with ocean-blue eyes full of curiosity. As promised Asseylum made sure to keep out of sight, not that Slaine would have noticed anyway, the boy was more careless than a kindergartener.

"Why are we here?" Slaine asked again and now Inaho had a response for that.

"So I can do this," he said and then he reached over to seize the other male's hand in his, he took it and interlocked their fingers. The Slaine immediately tensed, he doesn't say a thing until he grew hot faced.

"What are you doing?" he growled, red eared and all.

"Holding your hand." replied the monotone boy in a very relaxed manor.

"Let go." Slaine commanded with a calm voice that probably hid a storm behind it.

"One minute."

"What?" the blond blinked.

"One minute." he repeated.

"Let go, dammit." and that was when the blond tried to pry his hand free, but Inaho wouldn't budge. the one minute mark had already hit and yet he was still holding on, the brunet wouldn't admit it but he didn't really want to let go.

"Your hands….their soft." it felt awkward to give out a compliment, after all, Inaho had never really complimented someone before. It felt foreign to his mouth. The boy had long ago forgotten about the girls who were watching them, particularly a golden-haired girl who remained transfixed at their contact.

"Why are you acting like this again?" Slaine hid his eyes from Inaho, causing the boy next to him to turn his eyes on him. "You're going to make me feel something I shouldn't…" he said this only above a whisper, it sounded like some type warning.

Then something broke inside of him and Inaho rose to his feet. "Let's go." he let go of the other's hand and began to walk forward, Slaine blinked at Inaho's sudden movement.

"Go where?" he asked.

"Your house," claimed Inaho.

Nevertheless, the blond male doesn't protest this time, though, he did look off to the side with a sort of troubling gaze. On the other side of the room the girls in the library are left to their own fantasies, except a quiet Asseylum, who still had the image of Slaine and Inaho impregnated in her mind. She slowly got up and left herself, not a word was spoken between her and the girls.

As Inaho and Slaine walk down the vacant street, they fall into sync without even realizing it, they remained quiet the whole way there, not a single word was spoken between them. That was, until they reach the blond's house, they enter and head for the sofa, both teens were unsure, one more so than the other. Inaho did quick work at hiding his uncertainties, while Slaine did his own part in remaining as calm as he could.

Softly, without much movement or effort, the blond puts on a movie, any movie would due, it didn't really matter, not to them at least. The only thing that mattered was drowning out the voices in their head that begged them for something that was unthinkable.

The movie played in the background, no words were spoken still, they sit at their respectable ends on the sofa and relax(to whatever extent they could). Taking off their shoes they bring up their feet to get more comfortable, in the processes they accidentally brush.

The contact was expected yet surprising, maybe it was due to the fire in their hearts, or maybe the fire further below in an area that could only be described as intimate. This slight brush of skin probably wouldn't have mattered much a month ago, back when things were normal, but now the contact was a different story altogether.

And audible gulp was heard from Slaine's throat and Inaho couldn't help but look over and stare at the boy's adam apple. Inaho turned to look away a moment later, he stared at the TV in an attempt to prevent himself from being drawn in by his best friend. More painful seconds tick by, they could almost hear them in their ears, tantalizingly, excruciating tics.

The room was filled with the sound of the movie but they couldn't really concentrate on it, they couldn't even hear it for that matter. To them the room was deathly silent, but then that imaginary silence was broken by none other than Slaine himself. His tone was off, almost warningly so, he sounded frightened and hesitant at the same time.

"You said...that kiss didn't mean anything?" he began, ever so softly with the most inquisitive look he could muster. "What did you mean by that?" the question had plagued him for so long, it was the only thing on his mind. Slaine was too frightened to look over at Inaho so he looked at the TV instead, but he stared right through it. He felt the other boy bore holes into the side of his face, but he just couldn't will himself to look.

Inaho took in a sharp breath, he knew Slaine could probably hear his nervousness through his intake. Though he didn't show it, he was tense, too tense. "Jesus, Slaine you're so dense." his usual monotone voice came out in higher octave this time. Oh, he was nervous. The feeling was a first for the brunet but the turquoise-eyed male didn't seem to catch wind of it. Inaho didn't know whether to thank God or curse his luck.

The blond male snapped his head toward the remark. "What am I suppose to be? A mind reader?" his voice was filled with heavy sarcasm, the angry type of sarcasm that often pierced the recipient with a rusty blade but Inaho received it with a short scoff. His eyes were hard, almost in a half glare that left Slaine unnerved. Tension was rising.

"The kiss wasn't suppose to mean anything...but it did." the auburn-haired boy forced out harshly.

Slaine's lips formed into a thin line, he moved his eyes back to the TV screen. "Inaho—why do you think that way?" he asked the question they were both dreading. The blond dreaded it because then he would know the truth, and he felt as though the truth would consume him whole.

The brunet dreaded it because then he would discover the truth behind the feelings he had yet to understand himself. And the unknown scared Inaho, but at the same time this unknown made his heart pace deliciously fast.

"I can't answer that because—I don't know." came the brunet's belated reply, and that's when Slaine turned to look him dead in the eyes. To Inaho's complete and utter shock, the fair-haired boy leaned in suddenly, the balls of his hands support his frame on the couch as he moved his upper half forward, dipping the cushion to his weight as his face came closer and closer.

So painfully close that their noses were brushing in a matter of seconds, their breaths were melting together perfectly. Both their hearts were beating richly and rapidly in their ears, all recollection of what was meant to be right was forgotten in that instant.

And then Slaine had the audacity to hesitate. How could he even think twice when he was so close? He couldn't possibly expect to tease Inaho this far and get away with it. No, the brunet wouldn't let him.

He curses out loud. "Fuck this,"

Then, as if second nature to him, he closed the small distance between their feverish lips, and their hearts catch on fire anew with a re-awakened sense of longing. Slaine was the first to shut his eyes as he almost fell into the other male chest for support, Inaho instinctively grabed his shoulders and brought him closer to his chest. He moaned out in pleasure as he tilted his head to mold better with the blond's. All their pent up tension masked as anger is pleasurably released in an almost frenzy-like display of affection, it was a torrent of feelings they couldn't control.

Soon, the brunet pushed his luck and leaned over Slaine, bringing the boy to lie flat on his back as his legs are forced to separate by Inaho's lean waist. Slowly pushing his starving tongue past the blond's lips, he moaned once inside the crevice of Slaine's warm mouth, grunting as his hips began to slowly grind against the other's. Their tongues run along each other softly, tentatively stroking the other's with a quivering slickness that had them weak to the knees.

_So soft and warm_, is Inaho's immediate thought as he glided one hand under Slaine's shirt and kneads his waist.

As soon as the contact came the teal-eyed boy threw his head back and moaned out the other's name softly. Fueled by the utter sweet sound coming from his best friend's mouth, Inaho went down on the other's neck. Breathing in sharply as he pressed his whole being against Slaine, taking in all of him at once, he feasted on the soft creamy skin his friend had to offer.

Feeling the other's erection quite imprudently on his lower half was a plus and the blond grunts out his nervousness. Enjoying every sharp intake of breath Slaine made was like a small victory for Inaho, but despite the pleasure everything was beginning to suffocate the blond.

"Inaho...wait ah…" he couldn't quite form the words through the pulsating pleasure coursing through his system at the moment. Just what in devil's name kind of curse had Inaho placed him under?

Trails of bites and kisses were left in the brunet's wake, saliva was the residue of their foolish passion and then it all came to an abrupt halt when Inaho began to tug at Slaine's pants. That was the borderline, the point of no return and the boundary that had Slaine retreating back from, thought the couch behind him prevented his escape.

"Wow, wow!" the boy's half-lidded eyes snap open to their lively state, fear was even slightly encrypted in them. "No, not _that…_" Slaine's voice trailed off with evident fear, he tried to scoot Inaho's prying hands away from his waistline.

"Why not?" asked the brunet in an almost innocent voice which, if not so mockingly ironic, was honestly kind of funny. The collective face of Inaho came up from his friend's neck to meet his intense aqua eyes. Inaho frowned slightly, and the other male gnawed at his reddened lips.

"It's not that...simple." Slaine was groping for words that he couldn't think of, but the painful erection in his pants had the tendency of doing that to him.

"Simple?" a sigh was heard from Inaho. "You always do this, Slaine." the brunet leaned away and ran a tired hand through his thick hair. He emitted yet another sigh of obvious irritation that Slaine caught on to quickly.

Infuriated, he snapped. "I always do what?" the blond reproached harshly.

"Make things...complicated when they're not." Inaho said simply, he looked away, a more noticeable crease formed between those dark brows of his.

"Now you're pinning the blame on me?" the blond placed an angered hand over his chest. "Well, you _always _do that!" he dabed a slim finger to his best friend's chest, then his hand is seized by the other male's quick grasp.

"I want you, Slaine. Is that too hard to see? Why can't you just comply with me?" Inaho's voice is deep, confident and full of need. A husky voice that caught the blond by surprise; he's never heard his friend sound so...demanding. It was actually turning him on again, but he wouldn't listen to those selfish desires.

"Well, you shouldn't want me." snapped Slaine yet again.

Ah, so he was choosing to fight Inaho, well that was something he wouldn't accept. "Well I fucking want you and that's that." declared Inaho, quickly pulling the fair-haired boy towards him with the hand he still held. They fall and Inaho's back hits the other side of the sofa as Slaine fell on top of him, taking advantage of the tumble the brunet kissed him.

The other male landed on Inaho's chest quite mortified, he held himself upright with his hands but it wasn't enough distance to keep the brunet's mouth off him. Inaho successfully drew out a long and swift moan from the other boy but the blond wanted nothing more than to flee, despite the pleasure he was feeling.

He tried to rip his mouth away from Inaho's, he even tried to escape but that was proving fruitless, the brunet was holding him in place with tremendous strength, he was groping his waist, adding pressure to the already sensitive area below. Slaine tried to speak but nothing but muffled protests came out.

The tanned male slowly brought up his hips to meet with the other''s scruciating heat. The friction and bulges between them was really too much for them to handle, and they were both threatening to explode any minute now.

Between the moans and tangled legs, Slaine was able to swiftly maneuver his hands in a way that threw them both off the couch and onto the hard wooded floor. Through his cloudy mind he was able to turn the tables on Inaho and pin him to the ground, though, the tumble took a completely different tole on the brunet.

He moaned out but this time in momentary pain, blinded by rage Inaho shoved Slaine off of him and nursed his sore scalp, rubbing the back of his head as he hissed out in pain.

"Fuck…" he uttered as he shut his eyes. This didn't go as planned. "What the hell, Slaine?" he inquired in a jarring tone.

"You wouldn't get off!" the blond said as if the answer could suffice any question asked from here on out.

The brunet remained quiet; he felt ashamed for being rejected by his best friend _twice_, Inaho's steel-hard pride deflated just a tad bit in that moment. But there was something else that wouldn't deflate no matter how hard he tried to pry it down, and that was the burning erection between his crotch.

God, how he wish it could go away.

"I don't want to hurt you...that's not my intention!" Slaine retook his stance, there's guilt in his eyes and then he bites his bottom lip. Inaho licked his own lips, becoming submersed in the intoxicating feeling of desire once again.

He forgets his pain for only a second, and a second was all it took. "I want to bite those lips of yours again." he heard himself say before he could stop it. Slaine's ears turn red with embarrassment but the male shook his head.

"We shouldn't—I shouldn't—" the blond turned away and fiddled with his hands, he looked as if he were in the middle of an internal battle.

"Just forget everything for tonight." the brown-eyed boy offered. He could be rather persuasive when he wanted to be, and by God, he really wanted to be right now. He needed Slaine, needed him more than he'd ever imagined. "Just let this happen for tonight and afterwards we'll forget about it. We'll never speak about it again and I'll never bother you. Just please...I really want you right now."

"But—"

"Let's just be selfish this one time? No one will know." the brunet inched towards the blond on all fours, slowly, trepidatiously. As if he were a wolf ready to pounce on his prey, and that's what he really was at the moment. Inaho was planning on devouring his best friend this single night, and this night only. Nothing could possibly deteriorate the searing hunger in his mind and body. Every inch of him was practically crawling with lust, and he could tell in the way Slaine moved, that he wanted this, too.

He was only fighting it.

"Just this time...you say?" Slaine repeated the idea, as if taking it into consideration. He felt Inaho place his hand on his waist again as he began to massage him. The blond could feel the other's hot breath and suddenly his mind is being clouded by heat once more. Oh, he hated this feeling his best friend gave him.

"Just this once." the brunet whispered in the other's ear, feeling the soft blond hair on his nose. It was a delicate show of affection, an almost heart-warming action. "Just this once I want to be inside you."

Slaine immediately tensed, his eyes went stark wide. _Inside of me? No way, I can't! _But despite his thoughts his own body seemed to awaken with a newfound sense of longing, and his pants seem to jump at the idea. He placed a shaky hand on his best friend's chest, breathing hard, he nearly gasped when Inaho kissed the side of his lips.

"It will be too painful," he tried to give himself and Inaho a justified reason as to why they shouldn't do this.

"I'll go slow."

"But what if I can't stand the pain?"

"I won't hurt you, I'll ease my way in."

"Do you even know what to do?"

Inaho shrugged his shoulders. "It's not rocket science. I'll lay you down and go in from the front. I can raise you and spread your legs wide enough, maybe it will ease the pain?"

The blond shook his head flusteredly. "Just stop!"

"Stop what?"

"Stop making it sound so casual! Like—like if you're about to prepare breakfast or something!"

"Well, technically this would be dinner." Inaho corrected as if it even mattered, Slaine deadpanned. He couldn't believe the balls his best friend had right now. Slaine bared his teeth in a display of anger, he spoke slowly and menacingly.

"Fuck you."

Then there was silence, nothing but silence. The long forgotten movie was still being played in the background but the two teens could care less about it. Gentle strokes from the clock at the far end could be heard as Slaine pressed the mute button on the tv, he took on a serious look on his face. An unmistakably fed up aura clung to him but he was still somewhat abashed.

"Out. Get out." he spoke lowly.

"Slaine—" Inaho tried to save the crumbling conversation.

"I can't. I'm sorry but I just can't go through with it. Not right now..." the blond eased out, glancing down at the wooden floor. An intolerant sigh is heard from Inaho as he picked himself off the floor, that stoic expression plastered on his face again.

"Fine." is all he said as he grabbed his school bag and headed for the door, he ruffled his hair with one hand in slight exasperation. Slaine couldn't help but feel a small dip of disappointment when he heard his counterpart give up so docilely. But then again, he had asked for this himself. Shouldn't he be relieved?

"I'll catch you around, Bat." with that being said Inaho exited the front door with sharp eyes, and Slaine is left to attend to his own turmoil. He sucked in a heap of needed air as soon as the door shut.

The fair-haired male rose slowly and he walked over to turned off his TV awkwardly. "Shit," he cursed, rubbing a lazy hand across his hair, then he touched his lips which were still burning hot from Inaho's kisses. "How am I going to live this one down?" he uttered as he leaned against a cold wall.

_How am I going to face him at school tomorrow? _he wonders, silently groaning as he walked over to his room, without looking at his bed he crashed on it. He didn't even bother getting under the covers, he was too distressed and exasperated to think of anything other than what had just transpired between him and his best friend.

What exactly had transpired between them? How did he let it get this far?

_Why did I do that? Why did I make the first move?_ He groaned once more as he stuffed his face into his pillow, trying to desperately drown out the evil voices in his head that were mocking him. _He sounded like he really wanted to go through with this...Inaho really wanted to have sex with me..._

Slaine tried to ignore the small part of his subconscious that told him he wanted it as well. But did he really want it, too? Did he really wanted to do something like that with Inaho?

He wasn't sure, and if he wasn't sure it meant that two sides of himself were fighting for the answer. Which meant that some small part of him really did want it. By God, the boy slapped a hand across his forehead, shocked with his own revelation. He was rendered speechless, not that he would actually say anything at the moment, but rest assured that if he were having a conversation right about now, nothing but incoherent sounds would be coming out of his mouth.

No, he simply couldn't believe it. He really wanted Inaho. He really wanted him. That night Slaine took care of the problem between his loins with his own hands, but instead of having Asseylum on his mind like he usually did, he had another and that unsettled him to the point that he couldn't get much sleep.

The next day at school, Slaine tentatively walked up to the building, he hesitated momentarily and adjusted the bag over his shoulder. He gulped as he walked pass the gates that led into the school grounds, he saw many faces but none that actually struck him as familiar, just a bunch of random students he would often see but not talk to.

His eyes scanned the area, swaying from side to side, watching everything like a hawk, tentatively observing and searching for a certain pair of auburn orbs and a mop of brown hair. His plan was to stay away from those red eyes and brown hair. Yes, that was his plan.

Instead of spotting brown he caught sight of long gold hair that cascaded down one slim shoulder, the purest set of blue orbs contemplate him. Asseylum walked up to the fair-haired male and hugged him tightly, the boy, jolted out of his concentration, hugged her back.

"Hey!" she greeted after they detach, her eyes blink numerously and her eyebrows scrunch. "You look troubled? Is something bothering you?"

"Do I?" he all but sweats, he hunched over rather embarrassedly and began to scratch the bed of unruly blond hair he had. "Everything is fine! Do I look nervous?" his tone goes serious as he leaned in close to the girls face as if to create some type of privacy.

The blond girl shrugged her shoulders a bit. "Kind of," she admitted almost apologetically.

Slaine frowned and his lips form a line, a bead of sweat trickled down the side of his face. "I just woke up late this morning and—" he tried to give out an excuse when suddenly a large arm is draped over his shoulder, bringing him closer to a toned chest..

"Slaine-sama, how are you this morning?" said the ever-so calm voice of Harklight, an upperclassmen of Slaine who regarded him with the strange honorific. Often times the blond, teal-eyed lowerclassmen had no clue why the guy regarded him in such way, Harklight never bothered to give clarification.

The story behind it was somewhat of a strange coincidence, the tall boy with slick ebony-hair had witness Slaine hold his own against four other upperclassmen that tried picking on him. Ever since that event the honorable Harklight has always regarded the other male with 'sama', in a show of a silent praise and respect.

"I told you to stop calling me that, Harklight." Slaine rolled his azure eyes as he tried to detach the boy's arm from his shoulder, to no avail. Harklight was much stronger than the shorter boy after all.

The tall male ignored Slaine's plea, instead he kept his long hand around the smaller boy's shoulders, he even pulled him closer to his chest. "You have to answer my question first, Slaine-sama." he dabbed his index finger in the air. The blond girl in front of them contemplated the whole exchange with a tingle of amusement. Interactions between these two were always fun to see, but they paled in comparison to the way Inaho and Slaine interacted. Boy, was that a sight to behold.

_Speaking of which, where is Inaho?_ Asseylum pondered to herself, looking around for the mop of burgundy brown waves.

"If I answer your question," Slaine continued on with a heavy look to his face, "will you stop calling me that? For God's sake Harklight, you're older than me!"

"Hmmm, I'll think about it Slaine-sama. Hows that?" the taller male said with a slight curl of his lips; oh how he loved to pick on the blond. It was the highlight of his day, honestly. Ever since he had met Saline he was instantly drawn to the boy, maybe it was the way he looked, strong and determined despite his disadvantage in strength. Maybe it had been in the way Slaine carried himself that drew Harklight to him, he didn't quite know but all he knew was that he liked teasing the younger boy.

He liked being around him, he felt empowered in some way.

"My morning was fine," Slaine forced out in a sigh, trying to pry Harklight's arm off his shoulder again.

"Good to hear, listen, we need to hang out. You keep blowing me off for that Kaizuka kid." Harklight's face remained neutral as he removed his arm from Slaine's shoulder, moving with him as soon as the blond began to walk forward with Seylum in tow.

"That's because he's my best friend." the teal-eyed teen claimed without so much as pause, but internally he was slightly hesitating. The memory of what had happened between him and his so called 'best friend' replayed in his head over and over again, to the point that his ears turned red.

"Got a fever or something?" inquired the taller male with a hint of concern, though his broad and rigid figure expressed no trouble at all.

"Fever? No, why?" Slaine looked over at him.

"You're a bit red, like a tomato." Harklight declared and Slaine all but hissed at him.

"Or like a strawberry." Asseylum chipped in, rather joyful that she had added her penny to the lot.

"Yes, that works, too. Good job." Harklight smiled at her momentarily, he was about to continue when the blond male interrupted them.

"Will you stop mocking me!" he barked, stopping and turning to glare at the taller male. He wouldn't dare place the blame on Assylum, no, never in a million years. Then a hand to his forehead made him halt in place, Harklight had his colossal hand over him as his face drew close in examination.

"You don't feel hot but…"

Slaine blinked at him, perplexed.

"You really are cutter up close, like a girl." he whispered.

"That's enough!" Slaine smacked the ebony-haired male's hand away. He backed away but as he stepped away his back collided with someone, Slaine was unaware that anyone was behind him. The blond emits a small gasp of surprise, he swiftly turned around to come face-to-face with the cold look in Inaho's auburn eyes.

Slaine jumped back quickly without thinking, and managed to bump right back into Harklight's chest. The ebony-haired male clamped a hand down onto the blond's shoulder as he narrowed his eyes at Kaizuka Inaho, who had a slight frown to his features as well.

"Slaine." the brunet spoke with a flat voice, though his body language was stiff and forced.

"Inaho," the teal-eyed male spoke with trepidation.

"Inaho." Harklight said, entering the strange conversation of acknowledgement.

"Harklight." Inaho said the name with a hint of disdain, the taller male caught on to this and increased his frown.

"Asseylum!" they hear a female voice and they all turn to look at the blond girl who had a smile on her face.

"Seylum," Inaho turned his attention to the radiant blond female.

"Inaho!" the girl nearly jumped up to give him a hug, he wrapped his arms around Asseylum waist, hugging her a bit tighter than he ought to. The reason being was to get a reaction out of Slaine, Inaho didn't know why but he found himself wanting to get any type of reaction out of the hotheaded blond, be it from pleasure, jealousy, happiness, everything and anything. He wanted everything that was Slaine Troyard, and he already gave up trying to stop himself from such selfishness.

And sure enough he got the reaction he wanted, he witnessed Slaine narrow his eyes with a delicate frown stelling on his brow.

"I know! It's the perfect idea." Harklight snapped his finger, he spoke up without clarifying his intention, making everyone look at him with an arched eyebrow(everyone except Inaho of course). He placed his whole arm over Slaine's shoulder again and this action almost made the auburn-haired teen walk over there and rip the guy's hand away. Yet, Inaho steadied himself, he couldn't get too carried away. He was smarter than that.

"Let's go on a double date. Us four." he said this with an air confidence, not a twitch was seen on his young, handsome face. Slaine turned toward the taller male with a shell-shocked expression, Asseylum mimicked Slaine's face, but Inaho remained the same, as if the proposition did not bother him in the slightest.

"Us four?" the blond male repeated, hoping that maybe he had heard wrong.

Harklight nodded down at him. "Correct. Since you keep declining my offer to spend time together this is your retribution. You, me. Inaho and the girl."

"My name is Asseylum." the blond corrected with a huff.

"Right, sorry."

"And I can't, I have orchestra practice today." she added, looking between Inaho and Slaine, the fair-haired teen looked absolutely relieved.

"Well there goes your plans, I guess there will be no double date since Asseylum can't go." his smile twitched. He was relieved but he felt a cold breeze at the back of his neck. he knew something was going to go wrong, he just fucking knew it.

"No, there's someone else." Inaho spoke up, surprising everyone, more specifically, Slaine. Looking around, the brunet spots someone from afar. "Rayet." he called out.

"Eh?" everyone looked over the red-headed girl Inaho had called out to.

"What?" Rayet Areash walked up to the group with an unenthusiastic look on her face, her light purple jacked clung to her body loosely as she stuffed her hands in her pocket in a very apathetic manor. She could be described as somewhat of an introvert, much like the brunet who had called out to her, but the air she gave off was more intimidating.

"We're go on a double date tonight." the brunet said, he didn't even ask for her opinion, he just gave her the instruction as if he were some type of captain. The girl kept her dead gaze on the brunet for what seemed like an eternity, the slightest crack of aggravation seeped out of her mask as she contemplated his words, then she looked around the group and shrugged her shoulders.

"Whatever," she grunted before walking away.

As soon as she left, Slaine turned to his best friend. "What did you just do?" he growled in disbelief He was almost sure that Inaho would be the last person to saved such a sorry excuse for a double date.

"It sounded interesting, the double date I mean." he claimed without the slightest ripple of emotion from his solid mask of solemnity.

"Wow, thanks man." Harklight is sincerely shocked and quite bemused, in all honesty he started this whole deal as a way to anger both males in a form of a cruel prank, but it had actually worked out far better than he had planned. Now that he thought about it, it did sound interesting.

"Theres no way, I'm not—" Slaine began, outraged, but a hand to his mouth stopped him abruptly. Inaho held a tanned hand over his best friend's lips, pressing his palm flat across those smooth pink lips he loved so much.

"You can't get out of this one." he spoke lowly and only Slaine knew what the brunet was talking about, a slight blush crept on his face. He whirled out of the male's grasp, he turned the other way and all the group could see was his rigid back and shoulders.

"Fine. Let's just get it over with."

* * *

"This is not what I had in mind when you said we were going on a 'double date.'" Slaine whispered between clenched teeth as he looked outside the open window of an old suburban, he was in the passenger seat with a deadpanned expression on his face that did little to help the stifling mood. It was about 9 in the morning and his right elbow rested on top of the open car window, his hand hung low so he could feel the wind zip through his fingertips.

The blond's attire consisted of a short-sleeved collared shirt that was unbuttoned all the way revealing a clean white T under it, and finally some blue swimming trunks that reached his knees. Apart from Slaine there was Harklight who was driving the car, Inaho, Asseylum and Rayet were present as well, sitting in the back seat with Asseylum between the two stoic juniors.

"Well the double date was just a joke Slaine-sama." Harklight responded with ease, he looked very relaxed in his shorts and loose navy blue shirt. He drove with one hand on the steering wheel and the other out the window, the hot summer days allowed them to revel in the nice cool air provided by the moving car.

Slaine slumped in his chair, somewhat embarrassed. "Don't call me that." he glared at Harklight, then, his eyes dance over to the rear view mirror to catch sight of Inaho who was in his own world. The silent brunet looked tranquil as he stared outside the window. He had on a loose gray shirt with a hodie in the back, he also wore some swimming shorts that were, ironically, orange.

Of course, upon seeing his best friend wear such shorts that saturday morning, his blond counterpart couldn't help but make fun of him, yet internally he thought he looked nice, too. His chestnut-colored hair was in a disarray and it suited him well, it was an I-don't-care look that was very much Inaho-like.

The fair-haired male buried his face within his slim hands when he realized just what exactly he was thinking about. This caught Harklight attention and he reached over and patted the blond's shoulder to soothe him.

Inaho's eyes flicker over to the pair and the hand that rested on Slaine's shoulder, he doesn't frown but he's irritated internally, and he was thankful no one noticed his grim mood. How he wished he was the one touching Slaine and not his rival; thought the ebony-haired male could never take his place as best friend, Inaho still felt threatened. Not in the sense that he would get beaten by him but in the sense that he was forced to share his best friend with someone else, someone who could touch him as well.

And that didn't sit well with Kaizuka Inaho. The worst part was that he had to act as though it didn't affect him at all, to keep up appearances of course. It was truly torturous, though, he did it all the time.

Luckily, he had the pleasure of witnessing Slaine flick Harklight's hand away. Ah yes, that was one side of his best friend that he absolutely adored. His defenses were almost always up, his trust was a silhouette to the outside world, it was something that had to be earned and only him and Asseylum held that trust as of yet. No one else did. Perhaps it wasn't a very healthy behaviour to support but the young male couldn't help his selfish heart.

He knew why Slaine always kept his walls up and it was something he abhorred the more he thought about it.

Slaine's voice brought Inaho back to reality, he looked over at them. "Do you want to kill us? Go slower, Harklight." the blond commanded. "And you should have told me from the very beginning we were going to the beach, so I wouldn't have came at all."

"That's exactly why I didn't tell you." the black-haired male said. "Your such a drag."

"Then you shouldn't have invited me."

"But then I wouldn't have anyone to pick on." he smiled over at the blond boy.

Inaho was about to open his mouth when Asseylum cut him off. "Slaine, why wouldn't you have wanted to come?" she sounded upset, she even bent forward to try and glance at the male.

"Well, it's just..."

"Scared of water?" Rayet chipped in monotonously.

"No!" the blond barked.

"Slaine is scared of water!" both Harklight and Asseylum chimed in tauntingly.

"This is exactly why I didn't want to come." Slaine muttered.

Asseylum gasped. "You're mean, Slaine!" she pouted with a frown on her features, she slumped back and crossed her arms over her chest. "Inaho is far better than you anyway." she leaned over to enterwine their hands with the brunet. Inaho, unaffected by the bickering, allowed the beautiful blond to do as she pleased.

"Isn't that right, Inaho?" she smiled.

He merely nodded and Slaine only frowned at them from his seat. He wouldn't admit it, but he felt something aching to jealousy. Truth be told he didn't want to be here in the first place, but now he had to support this. The blond had been against the beach idea the moment Harklight had said it, and he knew nothing good could have come out of it.

After the double-date incident thursday morning, Slaine believed he had gotten out of a mine field when nothing happened that evening. Friday rolled around and nothing happend again, the blond was about to call it a victory when Saturday morning came along with an undesired surprise.

"_We're going to the beach."_ Harklight had announced bluntly, standing outside of the blond's house with Asseylum, Rayet and Inaho already in the backseat of his car. It was saturday morning and he had been standing there in his pyjamas, he had shut the door.

Ultimately though, it ended with Slaine being coaxed into going, but it felt more like he was being forced. The only other person who shared Harklight's enthusiasm in going to the beach was Seylum, other than her, everyone else was rather uninterested. The beach was a place the teens hadn't been to in a while, and that was because the nearest beach was three hours away. No one really had time on their hands to travel such a distant, sure it was hot around this time but there were always community pools, everyone else settled for that alternative.

However that wasn't the only reason why Slaine wanted to refuse the idea of going, there was another reason why he was defensive. The beach meant open waters and that meant he would have to take off his shirt, and if he did that then everyone would witness the scars across his chest and back.

The blond didn't want anyone to see that part of him, not even Inaho nor Asseylum. Even though his two most trusted friends knew about his troubled past, they never knew about the numerous ragged scars his uncle had left him. He never got the guts to tell them. Slaine made sure to never show them, to keep that part hidden away forever.

He sighed as the wind ruffled his long hair, unsure of what he was going to do, he guessed he would just have to keep his shirt on for the whole time and feign some crazy reason as to why he couldn't take if off. The only plus side to this, quote, double date was that Asseylum was able to tag along, since it was on a weekend and she had no orchestra practice.

Slaine looked over at the top rear view mirror and stared at the golden-haired maiden between Inaho and Rayet. She had on a see-through white blouse that allowed her pink bikini to show, she also wore some white, low-cut shorts. She looked absolutely stunning in them and the color radiated off her skin. She no longer had her hair braided to one side, but let loose to cascade down her back and shoulders.

"How much longer until we get there?" Asseylum said as she caught Slaine staring, making the boy turn away frantically. Inaho witnessed the whole exchange and stared at the blond's abashed face through the side view mirror.

"Not too long, maybe fifteen minutes more. Hey, do you guys want to stop and grab a bite first?" he offered, momentarily taking his eyes off the road to look at all of them, or at least what he could from his angle. He grinned over at Slaine and the boy responded by nudging his face back to look at the road.

"Concentrate." the teal-eyed boy said threateningly.

Rayet had one hand on her cheek as her elbow rested on the windowsill, her bored lavender eyes never strayed from the moving landscape outside. "Swim right after a big meal? Not a good idea. It can increases your chances of getting cramps while swimming and you'll drown." she finished swiftly.

"Okay...thank you Rayet for...that." Harklight cleared his throat as he scratched the back of his neck with one hand, while the other remained on the steering wheel.

"No problem." the stoic girl replied.

Inaho blinked a couple of times. "You know that's been proven false, or at least getting a cramp and drowning is very unlikely to happen."

And with those words of credibility, everyone sighed in relief, they knew anything Inaho said was almost always 99.9 percent the truth. Rayet scoffed softly and she frowned; Inaho was always trying to one-up her.

In the end they all settled on a small restaurant before making it to the beach, they sit in a booth with the two girls on one side and the three males on the other side. Slaine was in between Inaho and Harklight and quite honestly, a bit squashed. He wished he could go sit on the girls side instead.

After ordering their meals the tall ebony-haired male got up and excused himself from the table, he scurried to the back of the restaurant to find the restrooms. Now, there was enough legroom for both Inaho and Slaine, the blond scooted away and leaned back, sighing comfortably.

"Oh did Harklight go to the restroom, Slaine?" Asseylum inquired.

"Beats me, why should I know?" his tone came out stronger than he had intended. He knew his reply was kind of rude but he couldn't help feel a bit irritated, I mean, he wasn't Harklight's caretaker for god's sake. He didn't know why everyone seemed to think he was, even the other girls in his classes seemed to think this.

"Well I just thought he might have told you, you know since you guys are closer?" the slim blond withdrew a bit, she still held that frail smile between her cheeks but she seemed hurt.

Slaine cursed himself, he wondered why he couldn't think before he spoke. "No, sorry, I didn't mean to sound rude. I don't know where Harklight went, but I'm guessing he went to go take a shit."

They all hear Rayet snorts loudly, the sudden outburst makes everyone turn to her, she had on a loose grin on her face that looked like she was trying to force down a laugh. It seemed like Slaine's little declaration caught her humorous attention, honestly, no one even thought she had one to begin with, but this debunked that theory. The young redhead cleared her throat, wiped the liquid off her face and resumed her cold gaze like nothing had happened. She siped quietly at her strawberry lemonade as everyone resumed their conversation.

Seylum and Inaho began to conversate while Slaine looked off to the side, he watched people exit and enter the restaurant. Then, suddenly, he felt a hand on his knee and he immediately stiffened. He glanced over at Inaho who had his full attention on the blond girl in front of him, or so it seemed. Slaine narrowed his eyes at the tan brunet, he was a slick one. The blond's heart began to thump wildly as Inaho's hand started to knead at his skin, it tickled and felt good at the same time but he couldn't make any sudden movement, unless he wanted to draw attention, and that was the last thing he wanted.

The aqua-eyed male tried to hold his composure in one piece, tried to look away as if nothing was bothering him, though, he failed miserably. Rayet seemed to notice his strange change in appearance but she made no comment on it, she only silently wondered what was wrong with the blond male directly in front of her.

Inaho, growing quite bold, let his hand travel up Slaine's leg from underneath the table, until he was near his crotch, that was when Slaine let out a small "gaack". The blond jolted, as if a bug had crawled up his leg, and successfully bumped both of his knees under the table, making everything rattle.

"Slaine! Are you okay?" Asseylum was the first to speak up, she had a worried look to her surprised face, she stretched out her hand to hold onto Slaine's wrist.

"Yes! Just fine!" the boy hid his embarrassment skillfully behind his smile. "I felt something run across my foot, that's all."

"Maybe it was a roach, roaches are quite common in small rural restaurants like these." the redhead chipped in unenthusiastically, quickly looking under the table to scan for the so called "roach". By that time she looked under Inaho had already detached his hand from his best friend's leg.

"Yeah, maybe it was a roach." the blond gave the brunet a sideways glance and Inaho blinked, had he just been indirectly called a roach?

When Harklight returned the food was already set and they all ate in peace, in all honesty they really had a good time, that was, until they reached the beach. For everyone else it was a day to savor but for a reluctant Slaine, the day had just taken a turn for the worst.

"Last one to the water is a rotten egg!" Asseylum yelled as she hopped out of the car, she had her floaty in her hand as she broke off into a run for to the golden sand ahead. Running in her sandals, Rayet jolted toward the beach as well, followed by Harklight and then Inaho and Slaine. With every step the blond took dread swelled up inside of him, he didn't have to be in the water to feel like he was drowning.

_I'll look weird if I go in the water with my shirt on. Dammit, what should I do?_ he panicked internally as he slowed his steps behind the group. Then he realized he could use the things he was carrying to his advantage, he was the one in charge of taking the giant blue sun umbrella and the sunscreen. At least the objects would give him an alibi for some time, he could just lie and say he had to set it up or something.

When he arrived at the foot of the water he halts, his feet clad in black sandles are submersed under an incoming wave. He looked up and caught sight of Asseylum dive head first into the crystal ocean, followed by Rayet and Harklight, who splashed water onto the redhead's back. Slaine's shoulder drop as he indignantly headed back to the safety of the scorching dry sand, he passed Inaho as he walked.

"You're not coming?" inquired the brunet as he lifted his shirt off his head, Slaine averted his eyes from the sight, he decided to preoccupy himself with setting up the umbrella.

"No." is his curt reply, feigning apathy.

"Why not?" Inaho crossed the short distance to where Slaine was, he bends over and sat next to the blond who had set up the umbrella already.

"I just don't feel like going in right now. Maybe later..." he said, gazing at Asseylum who was splashing some water onto Rayet. Now, Inaho knew immediately something was wrong with his best friend, something was bothering him but he didn't know what. The more Inaho analyzed and inspected Slaine, the further he was led into complexities.

Slaine had this strange way of hiding the reason to his suffering, and the boy hid it surprisingly well, taking into consideration how easily he let his emotions show, but he could hide those as well. It still left Inaho dumbfounded how his best friend could fool everyone so easily, even him at times, though he was keen on those kinds of things.

"Mind putting some sunscreen on my back?" Inaho asked, deciding to let his whole analysis slip unannounced for now. Slaine, caught off guard, looked over at him quizzically. The fair-haired male sighed as he took the bottle of lotion, he began to spread it across Inaho's tanned back.

He couldn't help but feel a bit nervous when touching the brunet's tanned skin like this, he was almost massaging him and Inaho had the nerve to look behind him and give him a smoky gaze.

"Your good at this." the brunet admitted.

"Good at what?" Slaine looked at something else.

"Making things feel good." declare Inaho, and this caused Slaine to swallow, he stopped his movements but his palms remain on Inaho's shoulder blades.

"Why did you stop?" the brunet says.

"I'm done." Slaine detached his hands away reluctantly.

"Too bad." the auburn-haired male sighed as he gets up, he gives his best friend another look of hidden secrets and then walked over to the water to dive in skillfully. Slaine's gaze remained glued on Inaho the whole time and he didn't know why, he wished he could stop the sudden wave of longing that entered him at the moment.

The way Inaho's brown hair clung to his face and neck was extremely attractive, and the way his body shone with the help of the water was too much. The young problematic teen leaned back on the towel for lack of distraction, he wanted to do anything that would take his mind off his best friend.

But he couldn't, even the image was carved into his mind.

Just when his mind began to wander into a blissful nap, he felt a few cool drops of water on his cheek and eye lids. He scrunched up his nose and his eyes slide open, he comes face-to-face with a pair of lucid, ocean-blue orbs. His blond best friends smiles down at him, as he stared up at her. She was directly above him holding her moist hair back with one hand, a pearly-white smiled shoned back at him.

"Slaine why aren't you in the water yet? It feels really nice." Asseylum plopped herself next to the blond boy, he roused from his nonchalant position on the towel to give her a soft smile of apology.

"I don't really feel like swimming right now, sorry hime." he tried to cover up his disappointment swiftly, honestly, he wished he could share such a grand day with his small crush. He longed to play with her in the water, too, but he was too scared to let them see his scars. What would they say? Would they be appalled? Worried? Indifferent?

He didn't know, and not knowing scared him. He rather not take any chances, he was the type to always play it safe when it came to small things like this.

"Awww that's not cool." the beauty punched him lightly on his shoulder, and the blond didn't know what to say, so he decided to change the topic.

"You should put some sunscreen on." he offered, shaking the bottle in one hand. "Woudln't want you to get a sunburn."

"What are you? My mom?" she giggled and Slaine gave her a mischievous grin, it almost intimidated the girl.

"What did you say young lady!" he impersonated an old lady's voice as he smeared some sunscreen on her cheek. Asseylum gasped, then laughed as she grabbed the bottle and put some on her hands, smearing some lotion onto Slaine's nose. She bursts into a laughing fit as the male tries to pounce on her with more sunscreen on his hands.

"You can't run!" Slaine yelled and Inaho was close enough to hear him, he turned to watched them from afar with a steady gaze. He ripped his eyes from the scene as he dived into the water, swimming quickly and colliding with a wave. He didn't really want to linger on things that gave him a bad taste, but it was Asseylum for god's sake! Why was he getting jealous about such trivial things?

Inaho cursed himself.

Asseylum ran and ran while Slaine chased after her, she made a dash for the water and dived in. She swam a good distance and then looked behind her to see if Slaine had followed. But to her utter dismay she found him standing at the water's edge with the waves lapping at his feet.

Her plan had failed.

"Come on scaredy cat, I bet Inaho really wants you to come in." she decided to move onto plan B, which involved using his gaming partner as a bribe, but her strategy didn't seem to work on Slaine. Well, at least not when she used it, when Inaho used it however, it was a different story.

He was the king of bribery.

"You're the one who will get a sunburn, not me." Slaine said and turned his back on Seylum, determined to not let her see his disappointed face.

"Be like that then!" she yelled and splashed some water onto Slaine's shoulders, the boy arched his back as the cool water seeped through his clothes.

"Ack! That's playing dirty, hime!" he looked back at her as he pointed an accusing finger.

"I want you to come in though!" she whined and pouted her lips slightly, it was almost endearing had she not done an evil deed just now.

"Yeah, Slaine-sama why won't you come in?" Harklight joined the two bickering blonds, he exits the water and neared Slaine. This action caused the blond boy to put up his defenses, he had an idea what Harklight might do, and it wasn't anything good.

"Don't you even dare." the blond threatened.

"I haven't even done anything." the ebony male said..

"But I know what you're thinking—no, Harklight! No!" Slaine yelled as Harklight came over and began to wrestle him, he was trying to force him into the water. They trip over their own feet and wrestle on the sand, Harklight was much bigger and stronger, but Slaine was skilled in combat so he did well in holding his own ground. Almost immediately their hair became littered with sand and their playful fight caught a lot of attention from onlookers.

In a moment of disbalance, Harklight was able to get on top of Slaine waist and pin him down, he held him down with his legs on either side of the blond's hips, and his hands were gripping the other's palms madly, trying to make him give in. Their muscles trembled with force as they both exert bare strength on each other.

Harklight had a triumphant grin on his face as he looked down at his captive. "Looks like I win—ufff!" he was cut off by a body colliding with his own, Inaho had thrown himself on top of the larger male in an attempt to help his best friend. Caught by surprise the ebony male fell harshly onto his side as Inaho got up.

In that instant there was a silent agreement between Slaine and Inaho as they both walked over to Harklight and held him down, Inaho held his legs while Slaine held his arms at bay. Then he proceeded to look down at the black-haired male and cock his head with a smirk on his face.

Harklight smiled wirily. "S-slaine-sama I was just kidding! Only kidding!" beads of sweat lingered on his brow.

"Oh I know, so am I." the fair-haired male grinned devilishly and Harklight can't help but get captivated by that boyish smirk of Slaine's. But then the blond lets a bit of his saliva trickle down his mouth, near Harklight's face and this snapped him back into struggling.

"Slaine-sama! Please! I-I'm sorry!"

"You have to promise me you won't force me into the water then!" Slaine commanded.

"Okay!"

"Say it!" Slaine growled out.

"I won't force you into the water anymore!" black-haired male hollered and soon the hold on him was lifted, he breathed a heap of air as he tried to calm his racing heart. Slaine could truly be terrifying when he wanted to be.

"Good." Slaine nodded and helped Inaho up. "Thanks, man." they shook hands.

"No problem." the brunet nodded without much to add.

Then a bucket of water is dumped on Slaine's head, the blond remained frozen on the spot as the bucket is left to cling on his head, obscuring his whole face from sight.

"Got you!" Asseylum yelled as she ran back into the safety of the ocean, she burst into laughter. Slaine slowly lifted the bucket to eye level as he stared at Asseylum with an unreadable face, the girl can't even breath. Soon everyone joined into the laughter, even Slaine himself, who wore the red bucket like some type of hat.

After the whole scene, Asseylum and Rayet resume their swimming while Inaho and Harklight engage in some type of swimming contest. Alas, Slaine was left alone once again but he couldn't really complain, he set himself in this trap and now he had to deal with the consequences. The scorching sun was beating down on his back so he decided to retreat back into the shade of the large umbrella. He placed some shades that Inaho had brought and opened a bag of chips to munch on as he stared at nothing in particular.

A few minutes pass by and a couple of girls walking by him, they gave Slaine some flirtatious smile and glances, their gleaming eyes are trained on him as they giggle and snicker in their bathing suits. The blond boy doesn't know how to react so he turned to look at the other direction.

God, girls could be so intimidating at times. He didn't know why, but they just were, he didn't know what went through their mind when they stared at him like that.

"Hey!" someone called out to him suddenly, the voice breaks him out of his thoughts and he looked up at an unfamiliar tall, tanned girl.

Slaine is bemused at first but he settled for a soft "Hey" nonetheless.

The girl's smile widened as she held a volleyball between her long fingers, her beach-blond braid cascaded down her shoulder as she placed the ball between her hip and elbow. "We're gonna play vollyball over there but we're short...we need one more player. Willing to join?" she pointed at the group of girls who were not too far from the sight. When he turned to look at them they all wave and smile innocently.

"Me?" the blond repeated, taking off his Ray-Bans to get a better look at the slim girl, this action seemed to have an affect on her because she began to twirl the end of her brain between her fingertips.

"Yeah, so you in?" she grinned at him.

Slaine didn't know what to do, he didn't really want to go but he didn't want to be rude either. He was torn between staying and being nice, and ultimately being nice won him over.

"Sure," he got up, ready to follow the girl to the rest of the awaiting team. "Great!" she smiled over at him, "you're a life saver! What's your name by the way?"

"Slaine. What about yours?" his blue eyes followed her green ones as she looked back at him.

"Diana, but people call me Dee for short." she winked as she extended her hand back to shake his, Slaine reluctantly extend his own and shook the other's smaller hands. "As you can tell I'm not from around here, but it's always nice to meet new people, right?" she said.

"Right," he nodded and allowed a simple smile to spread across his lips, soon they reach the other girls and they all introduce themselves to the new team member one by one. They all silently fawn over him, they even quarrel for the right to get the cute guy on their team. Slaine on the other hand, being the unaware fellow that he was, was oblivious to their advances and rather, focused on trying to remember the rules of volleyball.

Then, with some authoritative claps the match began, Slaine hadn't played volleyball in a long time so it took him a while to get his head into the game. He messed up a few times but all the girls were really laid back about it. They even laughed it off, and at one point they even cheered him on when he spiked a ball or served a really good hit. He was so concentrated on the game that he had completely forgotten about his own friends who were a few paces away.

When the game was almost to its end, Slaine looked over and caught sight of Asseylum and Inaho playing in the water together. This caught him off guard and his eyes linger on them, he began to feel something swell in his chest, but he didn't know what the emotion was.

Or better yet, he knew what it was but he didn't want to admit it. He was too proud for that.

He didn't want to admit that he was jealous. Jealous of Asseylum. Jealous of the way she was getting along with Inaho, envious in the way he interacted with her. He wanted the same thing now, and he didn't know why. All of a sudden he wanted Inaho by his side, in his grasp, on his body like the last time.

_What the hell? _Slaine frowned.

"Watch out Slaine!" someone hollered at the top of their lungs, but the blond boy had no time to react because a ball came straight for him. It hit him square on the crown of his head, causing him to lose his balance for a couple seconds, he catches his fall before he could tumble forward on the sand.

All the girls turn to him and gasp in silent shock. "Are you okay?" one of them asked.

"Yeah I'm fine," Slaine laughed it off, "I wasn't concentrated that's why haha." he rubbed the back of his head, humiliated. He looked back at Inaho and Asseylum, who in turn were looking at him, it seemed like the commotion had caught their attention as well. Slaine, regrettably, watched Inaho say something he could not hear to Asseylum, then the monotone brunet began to walk his way.

This set the blond's nerves and heart on edge, he silently cursed his luck but nevertheless returned his gaze to the group of girls in an attempt to stifle his nervousness. "Well, it's getting late and I should go back with my friends, thank you for inviting me, it was fun." he smiled at them and they all broke out with sad faces.

"What? Don't you wanna play one more round?" one girl asked.

"Yeah, you were really great. We still need another player!" another one chimed in.

"Thanks but I really should go back, it was really fun though." Slaine began to walk away as he waved back at them. He felt bad for disappointing them like that but he wanted to get back with his own friends, and more importantly a certain brunet.

He shook his head, as if to shake off all the doubt he was feeling. Why was he getting such a strong desire to be with his best friend all of a sudden? And it wasn't in the way a best friend should want to be with his/her best friend. No, this was an uncontrollable desire to be with him, much like the way he felt with Asseylum before, but instead it was Inaho.

The blond gulped. _This is bad,_ he thought.

And things could only get worse now that his gaming partner was walking straight toward him, but Slaine steadied himself. When Inaho reached him, he cocked his head to the side with unamused eyes. Then he extended his hand past Slaine's line of view to tentatively touch the back of his head, it surprised the blond how gentle he could be sometimes.

"Are you okay? I saw what happened back there." he inquired, lowly as ever.

Slaine, unbothered by his best friend's touch, shrugged. "It's not too bad."

"Does it still hurt?"

"No, it didn't hurt when I got hit either."

"What happened?" Inaho retracted his hand and placed it in his pocket.

Missing the brunet's touch, Slaine's lips from into a line. "I got distracted, that's all."

The brunet remained passive, he observed his best friend and then his red eyes flicker over to the group of girls he had emerged from. "Made new friends, I see."

The blond only responded by looking somewhere else other than his best friend's bare chest, he had almost forgotten he wasn't wearing a shirt.

"Sort of," he responded as he rubbed his neck softly.

"Something wrong?" Inaho asked, expressing no emotion on his handsome face as beads of ocean water slid down his hair.

"Nothing's wrong. Let's go buy ice cream, yeah?" Slaine suggested, he just wanted to walk, take his mind off of talking.

"I can't, I promise Seylum I would help her build a sand castle." the brunet looked back at the girl who had already began setting up the sand near the water. Then he said "You can join, too, unless you want to keep being a stiff stick."

Slaine narrowed his eyes at this, he huffed and his bangs fan out. "It's not like I want to be this way." he barked out before he could stop himself.

"What do you mean?" the blond's remark immediately sparks an interest in Inaho.

"Ah, you won't get it!"

"Not unless you tell me. How am I suppose to get you? You're anything but understandable, Slaine."

"Forget it, I'll go get the ice cream myself. What kind do you want?" the blond closed his eyes in slight irritation, Inaho said nothing so he decided to walk away but his best friend held him back with one hand to his wrist.

"Don't do this." Inaho gave him one of his signature stares.

"I'm not doing anything." the taller male flicked his hand away from the brunet's grasp.

"I know you, Slaine. I know what you're doing." Inaho steped in front of his best friend to keep him from walking forward.

"Get out of my way."

"Not until you tell me what's wrong."

"I refuse."

"Fine, I'm going with you then."

"Don't leave hime alone." Slaine looked back at the blond girl. Don't get him wrong, he was happy that Inaho chose to go with him but he didn't want Asseylum to feel alone. Inaho looked back at the girl, only to find her building a sand castle with Rayet. Harklight was busy talking to some tall girl with a pony tail so he looked alright, too. They wouldn't miss him, he was sure.

"They'll be fine." he said and he turned back to the boy that held his silent affection. "We'll get them ice cream, come on."

Slaine gave him an incredulous look but he went with it anyway, there was no arguing with Inaho once he set his mind to something.

"Fine."

They walk in silence for a short distance until someone caught their attention. "Hey, Slaine!" a female voice called out to the blond, they both look toward the source of the noise only to find the tan girl that had invited Slaine to play volleyball running towards them. Slaine recognized her immediately but he wondered what she wanted.

"Hey." the blond said with a coy smile, the girl looked flustered and if Inaho could take a wild guess, he would say it was because of his handsome best friend. Sure enough the girl tucked a strand of her sandy-blond hair behind her ear, a grand indicator of nervousness, and she even bit her lip.

Inaho could read her so easily, unfortunately, he couldn't say the same for his blond counterpart.

"Here's my number if you ever want to text or something. It was fun meeting you." she pushed a slip of paper towards Slaine and the blond couldn't do anything else but accept it, he didn't really know what to say to this.

"T-thanks," he blurted out.

"Cool, cool. Okay, bye!" she smiled brighter than before and the she walked away, leaving the two males to themselves, one with a neutral gaze and the other with a disoriented one.

"Smooth," Inaho breathed as he resumed his walking.

"Oh, what would you have done differently?" Slaine caught up to him and attempted to give him a glare, a glare that Inaho ignored.

"Something better than that."

"I find that hard to believe, Orange. How about I go find her and bring her over here so she can talk with you? Here, you seem interested, why don't you have her phone number instead of me?"

"No, thanks." was the brunet's reply as they get out of the sand and reach the long walkway with numerous stands and stores.

"Why not?" inquired the blond, bringing Inaho back to the conversation.

The auburn-haired boy looked over at Slaine momentarily and then his eyes dance back ahead. Slaine didn't know why but he felt like his look held something behind it, he didn't know what though.

"First of all," the brunet began with his serenity, "I don't even know her. Second of all, why would I want to talk to her when I already have you? I'm not interested in anyone else but you right now."

There it was, out in the open now.

And it was said with the utmost composure and honesty that it made Slaine's cheeks heat up, he looked over at his best friend with a shocked expression. Truth be told he was not ready for that, he was taken aback as soon as the declaration left his best friend's lips.

The blond's eyes dance to the ground, he closed his mouth that had been slightly ajar as he became abashed.

"It's cute." he heard Inaho claim beside him.

"What is?" Slaine looked up, almost dreading the answer all together.

The brunet gave him a rare smile. "I think it's cute when you do that, pout I mean."

"I-I did not!"

"Sure you didn't."

Slaine shut his mouth in annoyance, but he was using this to mask his happiness, he'd never admit it though. Movement to his right caught his attention and Slaine noticed a few girls staring at them, but they weren't looking at him. It was Inaho who they had their eyes trained on and he didn't blame them, after all, the auburn-haired male had yet to put on a shirt, and he was still moist from swimming. Though he didn't have much muscle to show off, his looks sure made up for what he lacked physically.

But Slaine wasn't concerned with the physical, he rather pay attention to the deeds of a person, the acts they perform and their way of thinking and feeling. That's what attracted him to someone, the physical was not his priority.

Though, this fact did little to help the pinch of irritation he felt when catching them look at his gaming partner.

"You should have put your shirt back on before we came." uttered Slaine, almost to himself.

"Why? I'm not you. Plus, it's hot." came the monotone reply of Inaho; it was truly futile to argue with the brunet.

The blond sighed in indignation, but he decided to ignore the feeling. He couldn't blame Inaho for this after all. He probably wasn't aware of the attention he was attracting, not that he would even care if he did know.

"That's how those girls back at the beach were staring at you, you know." came Inaho's calm voice.

"What?" Slaine glanced at him.

"I saw you notice those girls looking at me when we passed them just now, and I'm telling you that it's the same way those girls you played volleyball with looked at you. Now I guess we're even."

"How can we be even? We can't control when people look at us!" argued the taller male.

"True, we'll at least I can say this for my case, I won't return their affection. I'm already entrapped by you." when Inaho said this he stopped in his tracks suddenly, he halted in front of the other male causing Slaine to stop as well.

"You can tell me your answer later." he added, turning to enter the ice cream shop they had arrived to without Slaine even realizing it. The blond remained rooted to the ground for a fraction of a second, he snapped back into reality. He headed into the store right after his best friend, all the while Inaho's words play again and again like a merry-go-round in his head.

To be honest, he had never truly stopped to take into consideration how real Inaho's feelings for him were. At first, he couldn't really believe it, it still felt too crazy to be real. He had never been loved by someone, well, at least not like this. But now, this was the first time that Slaine's eyes were opened, and I mean, truly open to the way Inaho felt.

Now he just had to find those feelings within himself. He didn't know how he felt, he did feel a shred of happiness everytime he knew his best friend was coming over, or when he was going to spend time with him. But he thought those feelings where just a natural love between best friends. Could he have been mistaking the love he felt for Inaho the wrong way?

Did he honestly like him beyond friends this whole time?

Slaine shook his head, no, he knew the primitive form of their love was a brotherly type, but now he wasn't so sure what it was. It had morphed into something else, into something strange. The blond thought back to the time Inaho had first kissed him, how it earnestly made him feel. How had it made him feel? Honestly?

Thrilled? Happy? Aggrivated? Confused?

Had it made him feel lust?

Love?

Maybe all?

Slaine stared at the back of Inaho's neck for what seemed like hours, he wasn't even tooned into the conversation the cashier was having with the brunet, his eyes were unfocused. He was lost in thought, so lost that he jumped when Inaho nudged his arm.

"Here, I got you your favorite flavor." he said with a somber expression.

Slaine looked down at the ice cream that was being handed to him, he frowned as soon as he saw the color. It was orange, he had gotten him an orange flavored ice cream.

"I hate this flavor." is Slaine's blunt reply.

Inaho turned around to grab a few other cones being handed to him by the cashier, unfazed by the blond's response he blinked. "No, it's your favorite." he assured.

Slaine deadpanned, he looked at his ice cream once more and slowly extended his tongue for a state. The rich orange tang of the ice cream invaded his senses, and the flavor wasn't so bad when he thought about it. Damn, he actually kind of liked it. Enjoyed it, really.

"How was it?" apparently Inaho had been observing his every move.

"Disgusting." Slaine lied through his teeth.

"You're a bad liar, here, take Harklight's ice cream. I'll hold Seylum's and Rayet's." the brunet handed Slaine and extra cone filled with chocolate ice cream. He looked over at the three cones Inaho had in his hands.

"What flavor did you get?"

"Strawberry."

"I think it's unfair that you didn't let me pick my own flavor." accused the teal-eyed male as they begin their return to the beach.

"You would have picked orange either way." affirmed Inaho yet again, as if he knew the future.

"How can you be so sure?"

"Because," the brunet paused to look over at the blond, "my calculations indicate it as so." and then there was that sly smile again. Oh, that smile.

Inaho's logic made no sense to Slaine but he said nothing, he decided to just roll with it. After all, the flavor wasn't so bad, yet it was a rather cunning joke made by Inaho, subtle, just like the monotone brunet. Once they return to the beach the group revel in the taste of their individual ice creams, they thank Inaho who had paid for the sugary treats.

Soon the swimming began again and this time, around midday, Inaho walked over to Slaine who was seated under the umbrella yet again.

"You can swim with your shirt on you know." he said, shielding his eyes from the sun with one hand.

"What if I don't want to." Slaine kept his gaze ahead.

"You're hiding something underneath that shirt, but if you don't want to talk about it, you don't have to. If you're uncomfortable taking it off just swim with it. You're missing out on the fun because of it, and frankly, I want you to swim with me. I'll put on my shirt, too, if that helps." Inaho said, looking deeply into the sea-green eyes that belonged to Slaine.

The fair-haired male could tell that Inaho, within his limited sense of empathy at the moment, was earnestly trying to help him. The sole fact that the brunet would even put on a shirt to make him feel confident was enough help. Slaine got up and stretched his arms, he took off the collared shirt and left his plain white-T on. "Fine. I'll race you."

"You're on, Bat."

"Bring it, Orange."

And thus the war was kindled between the two teens, the rest of the day was spent swimming and playing different games in the water. Time went by so fast for the five highschooler that when night time rolled around they all felt rather sad they had to leave.

"Wait, hold on. There's a reason why I wanted to come to this beach in this particular day. Just wait and look up at the sky." Harklight announced to the group when they were all about finished picking up their stuff to head home.

"What is it?" Asseylum inquired, noticing a lot of people standing around the beach with their eyes extended toward the starry sky as well. What were they all waiting for?

And then, as if to answer her question, the sky ruptured with an array of sparks and colors, the whole group gasped out loud, the vivid colors bounced off their eyes.

"Fireworks." Harklight smirked as the sound of numerous fireworks were set off in the sky, their grand popping enticed the teens as it ricocheted in their ears. Asseylum, Rayet and Harklight walk over to the beach to dip their feet in the ocean one last time as they watched the show, but Slaine and Inaho stay behind, standing next to each other as they stare up at the sky in silence.

Slaine swallowed. "Hey, do you remember the time I told you about that random girl who stole my first kiss?" he asked with hesitation.

"Hm." Inaho responded, nodding his head yes.

"Well, I kind of lied about the "random girl" part, actually, I know who the girl was. You know her, too." Slaine said, knowing that this was out of the blue and it was probably striking Inaho as odd. Yet, if the brunet was bewildered he made no visible sign or comment on it.

"Then who was the girl?" the tanned male asked with the calmest facial expression possible, that was about to change however.

Slaine paused for a while; he wondered if this was the right time to even bring this topic up. Obviously it wasn't since nothing triggered the conversation, he just felt like letting his feelings out, and it was truly a rare thing to behold. Inaho, aware of this fact, let his solid gaze fall onto his best friend's handsome face, to let him know he was tentatively listening to him.

"It was Lemrina...you know, Asseylum's little sister." the blond's voice had grown into a whisper, knowing full well that Asseylum could possibly hear them if he spoke too loud. This new information caught Inaho off guard and for the first time in a long time, he was truly surprised.

He had no words this time, he didn't even know where to begin. Lemrina was the crippled, isolated little sister of Asseylum, she had short pale hair and matching white skin, and there was this very sad look to her eyes. Since Lemrina was very sick, no one really got to see much of her, she was like a ghost in Asseylum's house—frequently talked about but never seen.

And the few times they did spot her, Inaho could have sworn that if you stared into her irises long enough you could almost see the utter abhorrence she had toward her situation, you could feel her resentment fixate the air around you. It was this same silent sister that Asseylum had protected fiercely. The older sister was always trying to help her get out more but the smaller sibling was slowly slipping away with each passing day.

The last time Inaho had heard of Lemrina at all, she had been declared bedridden and her health was deteriorating quickly. Her situation looked bleak and it caused Asseylum a lot of stress these days. It was because of this reason that both Inaho and Slaine never got to know her that well, or so he had thought, it seemed that Slaine go to know her a bit better than him.

"Inaho," Slaine sounded distressed.

"Yes?" replied the brunet.

"Say something, I can't stand it when you don't talk, I don't know what you're thinking." the blond looked over at his best friend desperately.

"When did this happen?" Inaho's face returned to it's neutral expression, though, a bit forced.

"Four months ago, this happened during our summer break. I didn't tell you but one day while I was with Asseylum I accidentally went into Lemrina's room...we met and talked...she was really nice. This was before she was declared bedridden, she was still in her wheelchair. Before I knew it I was visiting her frequently and then she asked me something I could never forget."

"What did she ask you?" Inaho was truly interested now.

Slaine let out a guilty frown flutter across his face; he was really beating himself up for this. "She asked me if I would give her the one thing she could never hope to reach: a show of affection by a lover. She asked for a kiss…and at the time I didn't want to be mean so I gave her one. But now I just feel guilty about it." he averted his gaze to the sand below, as if he was ashamed to even be seen.

"Guilty? Why?" Inaho wondered out loud.

"Because, that little kiss didn't satisfy her in the end, it only made her wanted more. But I couldn't give her the love she wanted, and this made her fall into depression, soon she didn't even eat anymore and she didn't want to get out of bed...and I...it was I who…" he stared at his trembling hands. "It was my fault. Asseylum's sister is dying because of me, Seylum is hiding her pain so strongly, and its all because of me."

"But it's not your fault, you can't give out a false love. That would be even worse than turning her down. You did the right thing." Inaho claimed, his warm auburn eyes burning into Slaine.

"Lemrina wanted something I could never give her and it's because it belonged to someone else. It belonged to Asseylum...but now I'm not so sure who it belongs to anymore..." the blond glanced over at Inaho and gave him a look full of hidden meaning. It was with those same glazed-over pools of turquoise, that the brunet came to realize what the other meant.

It was clear now, this was Slaine's subtle way of returning his feelings.

Inaho wanted to grin. When he was about to respond to the other's declaration a panting voice interrupted them, they turn to watch Asseylum run towards them.

"Wasn't it beautiful, Inaho! Slaine!" she jumped and hugged Inaho, swinging her arms around his neck, her overall excitement threw Inaho off his course a bit, since they had just been talking about her. Slaine, not wanting anyone to grow suspicious, decided to head for the car like nothing was wrong. He was followed by Harklight, who tried to engage a conversation with him.

"What did you think of the fireworks, Slaine-sama?"

"They were nice," Slaine answered absentmindedly as he tried to rush to the car.

"It was, wasn't it? I'm glad you liked it." Harklight grinned as he unlocked his car, he turned on the headlights so everyone could see better in the overpowering darkness of the night. He watched Slaine place his stuff in the trunk, then he hopped in the back seat and remained there, this made the ebony-haired male raise a questionable eyebrow.

"You're going in the back now?" he tried not to sound too obvious.

Slaine situated himself in the seat that was right in the middle. "Yeah, hope you don't mind."

"Nah," Harklight shrugged his shoulders, feigning composure, though he was silently irritated. He made no comment on it however.

The rest of the gang reach them, and Asseylum is the first to open the other end of the passenger seat door, she blinked when she spotted Slaine. "Oh you're coming in the back with us?" she asked, Inaho caught wind of this and he stared over at Slaine, who already had his seatbelt on. They gave each other that silent stare that meant so much to them, but no one else could notice it.

"I guess so," he grinned a bit.

"Yay!" the blond female beamed at the other male as she hopped in the car, sitting next to her best friend, Inaho walked around and sat beside of Slaine as well.

"You're hogging all the space, Bat."

"Shut up, Orange."

Rayet, concluding she had no other choice, took the seat Slaine had occupied on the way there. After making sure everyone had their seatbelts on, Harklight sped off into the night. Halfway through the car ride, once Asseylum (who had fallen asleep on Slaine's shoulder) and even Rayet had fallen asleep, Inaho slowly and quietly slipped his hand into Slaine's. The blond boy neither rejects him nor shied away, on the contrary, he squeezed the brunet's hand as they lace their fingers together. The car was so dark that no one would notice, they both looked away from each other as to not attract attention.

Silently, for the first time in their life, they arranged their feelings in the strangest way possible.

* * *

The next day, a sunday afternoon, Inaho is out doing some shopping. He finds what he needed and pulled out his phone to dial Slaine's number.

After a couple of rings the blond answered. "What?" he sounded very tired, as if he had just woken up. That was another thing that distinguished the two best friends; while Inaho was an early bird and was awake once the sun was up, Slaine was lazy and prefered to stay in bet after 11 if he could.

"You awake yet?" the brunet asked as he looked at the item he bought while he walked back home.

"No. What do you want?" Slaine yawned groggily.

"Christ, Slaine. It's already 12 in the afternoon, wake the hell up."

"Lay off," the blond hissed through the phone as the sound of him stretching his limbs filled Inaho's ear. "If you don't want anything I'm hanging up, Orange."

"We're going on a date tonight." the brunet claimed, and he gave no room for discussion or rejection. And apparently, that little bossy nature of Inaho's didn't fit well with a sleepy Slaine at the moment.

Filled with rage, Slaine growled out: "Are you forcing me?"

"Subtly, yes."

"So what if I say no."

"There's not an option for that."

"I'm making one." the blond bit out.

"You can't." Inaho replied calmly.

Slaine breathed in, he took a moment to recollect his composure. He didn't want to blow steam just yet.

"And we? Who's _we_?"

"You and me. We're going to a drive-in movie at 9, I'm picking you up around 8." and with that being said Inaho hanged up on Slaine, the blond was about to retort but the lined went dead and he cursed at Bat loudly.

On the way home, Inaho was alone with his own thoughts, and he came to realize that he wasn't sure when exactly he had began to grow feelings for his best friend. Maybe it had always been there, maybe they had just been obscured by his own blinded excuses. The feelings he felt certainly felt natural, they didn't seem forced nor conjured out of the blue.

There was a point in his life were he had mistaken his feelings for Slaine, and instead directed them towards Asseylum. Inaho felt like those emotions could never be directed toward Slaine, he felt like the only normal thing to do was to have a crush on the girl. But if he were to be truly blunt, and he was, those feelings were forced. They didn't bloom naturally like they should have, like they did for the blond male.

Yet, the brunet did well in fooling himself, he told himself that he felt nothing short of brotherly affection for his best friend. But that was until Slaine confessed to him his true feelings for Asseylum, that was when he realized just how much he liked the blond. Inaho remembered it clearly, remembered the feeling of jealousy he experienced because he liked the boy.

And even after that incident, the brunet still tried to fool himself. The brunet was puzzled, scared even, scared of rejection. It was out of his character, sure, but he was human as well.

So, for many years he kept this fact hidden from his best friend and even himself. Deep down he buried these feelings and it was only until now that he worked up the courage to express and act according to them. And it felt damn good, he had to admit.

Once Inaho arrived home, he unlocked the car and placed the purchased item in the glove compartment. Hours passed and soon it was time to head for the movie, and with impeccable timing the brunet arrived at Slaine's house. The last rays of the orange sun were grazing the horizon as he honked outside of the blonds house. Sure enough, out comes Slaine with a frown set on his creamy features.

He was still pissed, it seemed.

The fair-haired male crossed his lawn and opened the car door harshly, he entered and sat down without a word. Inaho looked over at him and blinked, he looked him over once again. His best friend had on a pair of ripped jeans with a short sleeve black shirt that had their favorite game logo on it. The outfit was quite plane but Slaine looked very good in it.

"Stop staring at me." Slaine closed his eyes. Inaho could be so imprudent at times.

Inaho ignored the blond's remark. "You look good," he said smoothly.

"Just drive the car," the fair-haired male looked away to hide his reddened cheeks; it was shameful to admit it but it was those small remarks that melted his hostility so quickly. And Inaho knew exactly what to do to get Slaine's gears moving in just the right ways, but that only angered the blond even more.

Little did he know that he could case the same affect on the undaunted brunet.

Once they make it to the desolate drive-in, Inaho parked the car right in the front of the giant screen, the light was enough to illuminate their faces and bodies.

"So what movie are we watching?" inquired Slaine as he looked around the area, catching sight of a few spares cars attending the drive-in as well, but they were all in the far back.

"I don't know," came the monotone response of the other male, who took out a bag of chips and munched on them.

"I should have fucking known…" Slaine deadpanned as he crossed his hands over his chest, the movie began and he attempted to figure out what the hell they were watching but Inaho interrupted his concentration.

"Actually, thats not the reason why I invited you here." claimed the coolheaded Inaho, and this declaration caused the blond to look at him with narrowed eyes. He didn't know whether he should be worried or terrified; when Inaho had an alternative reason to something, it meant he had a plan. And when he had a plan that involved you, you could bet your ass you were in for a treat.

The brunet had a cunning way of always coming out winning in the end.

"We're not making out, okay?" Slaine blurted as he kept his gaze on the giant screen, he gave an audible gulp when he remembered the last time they had attempted to "watch a movie". From the corner of the blond's eyes, he saw Inaho jerk in surprise, clearly not what he had in mind.

"Dammit Slaine," Inaho said and this almost made a shiver run down Slaine's spine. "No...I wanted to clarify what happened yesterday." he spoke slowly this time.

Troyard shifted in his seat, he tried scooting to the farthest end, though it wasn't much. What he said yesterday, he didn't know whether his heart spoke faster than his brain because he felt a dip of nerves hit him.

"What happened?" Slaine asked, he knew this was a childish card to play but he couldn't help his natural urge to conceal what's already out in the open, it was embarrassing enough to admit it. Kaizuka knew exactly what his best friend was trying to do and it aggravated him a bit, though he didn't show it.

"Don't pull that one on me, Bat."

"I'm trying to watch the movie."

"No you're not."

"Now I am."

Inaho reached over and turned Slaine around to look at him, the brunet's face was grave and fierce while the other's was bemused and a bit frightened. Their bodies were close now, so close that Slaine could smell Inaho's enticing scent. It wasn't any type of cologne or perfume, it was just his natural scent that the blond came to adore.

"You can't keep running away from what we started, Slaine. You either reject me now or you man up to the feelings you have. I already came to terms with mine and I won't sit around letting you play with these feelings. I need an answer."

"I'm not playing with them!" Slaine sounded truly offended.

"Then answer me." retorted Inaho.

The brunet's searing eyes showed with a great intensity that made Slaine feel mortified, he almost wanted to hide but there was no escape here, no excuse or distraction (apart from the movie but he already tried to use that to his advantage).

Dammit, Inaho had perfectly cornered him and he walked into the trap almost knowingly. Really, what should have he expected of his "date" Inaho had in mind. Anytime the younger male invited him anywhere it was almost always carried out with a plan secretly hidden in the rough.

"Why don't you just give me more time?" asked Slaine while he turned to look away.

"There's no need for more time. You and I both know that you don't need more time."

"Not everyone is like you Inaho! Not everyone has things figured out instantly!" the blond bit out, shoving the brunet's hands away, his coyness was beginning to give out into anger. He always yielded to his feelings while Inaho had a tight rein on his. Slaine hated being the open book to the other male, but he couldn't help it.

Before Slaine could react, Inaho leaned toward him and pressed his warm lips on the other's mouth, seizing his hands as well, the brunet kept the other in place. Slaine tried to lean back but the car door stopped his movement and so he was trapped again. But soon he gave into the soothing feel of Inaho's mouth on his and he gave out a soft moan.

They part moments later with a click of their lips and half-lidded eyes gazed at one another. Inaho leaned back into his seat but he kept his gaze on the other male, he really didn't know what had taken over him. Maybe it was the way Slaine looked in the moment, the way he had just been gnawing at his lower lip in anger and they way it had swelled with a darker shade of red.

"I can't resist you anymore, Slaine." Inaho said with sincere eyes. "I can't stop myself unless you tell me to. I want to know if I should act like there's nothing between us or if I can show my feelings. One word from you and I'll leave everything behind, one command form you and I'm yours. It's all up to you. Do you want me to stop?"

Slaine's hands shot out to hold Inaho's arm almost desperately. "No, I don't want that…"

"Then? Are you frightened?"

"I…" the blond was at loss of words. "I'm not sure," he bit at his bottom lip again.

"Because I'm frightened." admitted the brunet and this made Slaine do a double-take.

"What?" he asked quizzically.

"I'm scared to show my feelings, after all I've never felt this way for anyone before. This is new territory I'm walking on and for the first time in my life...I'm not sure what I need to do. All I know is that I don't want to lose what we have, I want to save our friendship if that's the only thing I can get out of this. But I just need to know, because it's eating away at me each and every day."

For the first time in a long time, Inaho was the first one to look away, it was usually Slaine shying away at every touch or face-down, but now the brunet couldn't stand the sight of those blue orbs. Kaizuka knew he must have looked pathetic, he usually didn't care but being around his best friend like this caused something to break inside of him.

He wished he could be normal, he wished he could have fallen in love with someone that suited him better, like Asseylum. Falling in love with her would have been a much more acceptable situation than the one he was in now, but he couldn't help what his heart felt. His heart screamed out for his best friend and it ached to think that one day, he could end up with someone else.

Inaho didn't know why he felt this way, he just did. He wanted Slaine, there was no questioning that. Now he just needed to find out whether the other male felt the same way, and if he was being quite frank with himself, he was scared to find out.

There was a long pause between the two, at one point it almost felt like they were watching the movie but in all honesty they were just trained on themselves. Nothing else really mattered. All they could hear was the controlled breathing that came from their mouths, and the sound of their racing hearts in their ears.

"I can't give you the right answer...because I don't really know what I'm feeling either. It's strange to go from a close friendship to something more…" Slaine spoke up, causing Inaho to look over at him. "But all I can tell you is that I don't want this to stop." he turned to contemplate the other, and slowly, tentatively, he leaned over to press his softer lips against his best friend's. Inaho immediately breathed in some air as relaxed into the curve of Slaine's mouth.

He reached over and held onto the soft blond hair at the back of Slaine's neck, this made the blond sigh into his mouth, and groan when he pulled. One hand reached over and was placed on top of Inaho's leg, and soon their mouths opened to taste the other.

Inaho leaned away when a spark of electricity shot from his brain to the lower part of his body, if he didn't stop right now he couldn't promise Slaine he could control himself. Remembering the outcome of their last "passionate attempt" he pulled away, and with a voice that sounded a bit out of breath he said "If we don't stop now I won't be able to stop. Let's just watch the movie."

"No, wait…" it was Slaine this time, he had a slight abashed look on his face but those eyes of his said something completely different. He wiped the saliva from his mouth with the back of his hand and suddenly he began to shuffle to the back seat. Inaho, curious as to what the blond was doing, watched him intentively.

"What are you doing?" the brunet looked back but his lips are sealed by Slaine's mouth again. The blond grabbed both ends of Inaho's face and practically dragged him into the back seat with him. Before the brunet had any idea what the devilish blond below him was doing, he was directly above him, holding himself upright with both of his hands on either side of Slaine's head. Troyard had a wicked look to his handsome face, it made anticipation rise up in the pit of Inaho's stomach.

"Are you excited?" the blond inquired softly as he looked up at the other male, and Inaho could only nod, enticed by the boy's seducing voice.

"Good." answered Slaine, placing both of his hands on the first button of his black shirt, Inaho swallowed. What exactly was he doing? What side of Slaine was this?

"I need you to see something," and then he unbuttoned his shirt, slowly and purposely tantalizingly. It excited the brunet to no end, that was until Slaine had unbuttoned his shirt completely and the long scars across his chest slapped him across the face. He stared at them long and hard, there were over a dozen of them crisscrossing on his chest, somewhere more visible than others, some left the blond's skin ragged and discolored.

What the hell had happened?

Inaho tensed, he couldn't control the flood of anger he felt at the moment, seeing Slaine's skin damaged like that was like a jab to his gut. And even though the brunet came to a quick conclusion as to who had caused this to Slaine, he didn't want to believe it. An air of silence hit them both, and for a while nothing was said between the two.

"Their ugly, aren't they?" asked Slaine, breaking the silence . He couldn't stand the silence. Inaho stared at him, long and hard, almost hollowly. It was in that instant that he realized why the blond refused to take off his shirt at the beach.

To think that this was the dark reason behind it.

"Who did this?" the auburn-haired boy began in a chilling voice, it had gone down a few octaves and it almost sounded like a growl.

"You should know the answer to that. I know you do." Slaine looked off to the side at something imaginable.

"Your uncle," was the answered that escaped Kaizuka's lips bitterly, his eyes had darkened and he couldn't even utter the monster's name. It would make him sick. Slaine only smiled bitterly at the answer which proved Inaho was right.

First it was Asseylum's little sister and now this, Inaho was coming to realize there were a lot of things Slaine was keeping from him. What else had he hidden from him? And why was he hiding them from him?

Didn't he know that he could trust him? He wanted to know the answer, but he had a feeling that now was not the time to ask Slaine about his secrets, and even if he asked he predicted he wouldn't get much of a response.

"There are things about me that you don't know, things that have been going on since we graduated middle school." the devilish blond closed his eyes and laced his arms over Inaho's neck, bringing the boy down so he could smell his neck, and maybe hide form Inaho's intense scrutiny.

"I want to be a little selfish this time...just a little,." the blond whispered against the soft flesh of the brunet's neck. "I want you to know about my world."

"I need you to show me that world." Inaho spoke, leaning back to look at Slaine's eyes that had grown very sad with a far off memory. "Why are you crying?"

The boy's eyes widen as liquid slipped from them, he bit his lip and pulled Inaho back down so he could hide from him. "I'm in pain."

"I'll fix it," Inaho nuzzled his nose between the crotch of Slaine's head and shoulder, this brought out a shudder from the other male.

"Please," the blond gasped as he balled one fist in Inaho's back and the other in his brown locks. "I need…"

Inaho slipped his tongue out and licked the other's neck, he shifted slightly closer to Slaine in order to start some friction between their aching bodies. "You need what?" he breathed huskily as he placed his knee between Slaine's legs, making the boy arch his back a bit.

Tears still stood out on the blond's eyes as he silently gasped out for air. "...I need you..."

Inaho placed his palm on the other's chest and began to trace the scars that littered his body, Slaine shivered and the brunet could have sworn he heard a feathery sound emit from the blond's throat. He knew that his best friend wasn't hurting physically, rather, those bitter tears were due to the perpetual memories plaguing his mind at the moment.

But tonight he planned on relieving some of those memories and taking part of the pain for his own.

Slaine gasped when Inaho slipped his hand from his chest to his pants, he had no belt on so it was an easy access. And once he was there his hand cupped him, causing Slaine's hips to go up.

"Nghhh!" he shut his eyes tightly.

"Try to keep it down, there are others here." whispered Inaho hotly against the other as he messaged Slaine's length, up and down he went.

"How ah, unfair-ahhh!" the blond couldn't even finish his own sentences without moaning out, the sensation was strong. It was never this strong when he touched himself other times, so why was it affecting him so much now?

"I heard you moaning one night," began Inaho, teasing Slaine every so softly as he placed his thumb over the head of the blond's shaft. "You spent the night at my house and when you thought I was asleep you started jacking off." he leaned forward and kissed Slaine, biting at his bottom lip.

The other male could do nothing more than moan, he was pudding in Inaho's hands and he knew it. The brunet knew the immediate dominance he had over his best friend.

But what fun would it be if there was no battle?

Breaking the kiss, Slaine bit down on Inaho's neck, causing him to arch forward, his hand pressed tighter against the other male's cock.

"Fuck," the brunet moaned, shifting his head sideways to give Slaine more access to his neck.

"Inaho ah! I-it's too much…I..." choked out Slaine with deep, unsensible pleasure as Inaho quickened his tentative strokes. "I can't hold it ahh!"

"Then don't."

And with one last moan he released himself onto Inaho's hand and his own pants. Once he rode off his high the blond had the gall to be embarrassed, but he had no time to linger on the feeling because the boy on top of him was all action and no talk.

Inaho leaned back and removed his shirt over his head, he threw it to some random place in the car but he could care less about the piece of fabric, the only one occupying his mind was Slaine.

"I want to see more," breathed Inaho with half-lidded eyes full of lust, they were practically overflowing with desire. He was intoxicated with Slaine's scent and sound. Everything about him entrapped him at the moment, as if he were some bug stuck on a spider's web. Slaine was the spider and he wanted him to devour him whole.

Kaizuka remained upright as his knees steadied him on the small space of the back seat, he pulled Slaine's legs over his pelvis and unbuttoned the male's pants. In a last attempt to keep his decency, the blond grabbed his own jeans, but Inaho was already smoothing out his tighes with the palm of his hand, and even rubbing his erection. The sensation was so overpowering that he let his pants slip from his hands, and now he was left only in his boxers. Slaine's shirt clung around his shoulders but it was unbuttoned to expose his well-toned chest.

It was then that the blond could feel the bulge in his best friend's pants and it caused his cheeks to heat up. Slaine bit the inside of his cheek as his eyes stared at Inaho, and the brunet's neutral red eyes stared back as he grinded his hips against the other's. The blond looked away in ecstasy as his mouth hung open, he breathed in sharply, the back of his hand came up to his mouth to stifle his moans with every thrust.

"I'm guessing this time we can go all the way?" Inaho spoke up, Slaine cracked one eye opened as he looked over at his best friend.

This time he doubt he could deny both of them that pleasure, truth be told, however, he was still scared of the pain. And as if reading his mind, Inaho looked sideways and reached over to the glove compartment that was located in the middle of the two front seats.

"I bought something for us." he claimed as he held a bottle of gel, then Slaine's eyes widened in recognition.

"Are we really going to u-use...that?" he questioned dubiously, eyeing the bottle as if it were a threat to his life.

"It will take away some of the pain, so yes."

"Just hurry up and do it," the blond bit out as he averted his eyes to the side, as if not seeing the object would take away some of the fear. Ready to oblige, Inaho unbuckled his own pants, he stroked himself to get ready as well, though he didn't have to do much because he was already hard.

"Here give me that," Slaine said as he grabbed the bottle of lube from Inaho, he squirted some one his hands and almost stuck out his tongue in disgust. "Now, how do I go about doing this?" he inquired. Inaho, without saying a word, guided the blond's hands to his throbbing member, the cool gel only made him bite out a moan as he arched his back, thrusting his hips slowly into the boy's touch.

"Slaine!" he breathed out just as hotly, his best friend hadn't even moved his hands and he already felt like exploding. "Fuck," Inaho threw his head back as he manouvered Slaine's hands up and down to coat his cock in the gooey loob, once that was done he took away the blond's boxers.

"Wait!" Slaine screamed out but it fell to deaf ears as Inaho thrusted inside of him before he could stop him. "Aghhhh!" the blond didn't know whether to moan out in pleasure or scream out in pain, his hips arched up and his back tensed. In a sudden jar of desperation he grabbed onto Inaho's arms and squeezed for dear life, his feet extended and kicked the door accidentally like so raging horse.

"Does it hurt?" asked Inaho as he began to move his hips to a silent rhythm in his head.

"So much," Slaine gasped out as tears brimmed the side of his eyes. "Please get out of me."

"But—"

"Get out now! Put some lubricant on me. Christ," Slaine bit out as Inaho reluctantly pulled out of him, he couldn't help but moan as the tight walls released their grip on his shaft. Putting some lubricant on his finger, Inaho decided to prepare Bat for his next entrance. Once he was hot and ready again, Slaine allowed Inaho back inside of him, but this time more slowly than the first.

Inaho stretched Slaine's his legs further around his torso as he thrusted inside of his hot core.

"Ah ah not so fast, please!" the blond would beg at times, but his pleading would only fuel the fire of passion inside of the auburn-haired male to the point where he couldn't stop.

"How does that feel?" Inaho grabbed one of Slaine's legs and brought it up over his shoulder, stretching out the boy below him even further. In and out he went, slowly and with rhythm.

"No questions please...no...no...just d-don't stop." said Slaine loudly as he closed his eyes. This was the first time he had ever done this, he was losing his virginity that very night and with a guy no less! Troyard was so sure he would lose it to Asseylum...or at least that was his fantasy. But this sensation was far greater than any explicit, made up fantasy he had ever dreamed of.

And then the blond's eyes snap open as he felt something pull on his length, it was Inaho. As the brunet pumped into him, he also made sure Slaine felt pleasure, too. That was when the real fun began, but when it also came to an incredibly erotic end.

The blond's breath hitched as Inaho stroked him, he felt a gradual swelling grow inside of him. Of course he would be the first one to cum out of them both. But Inaho followed suit right after, and as he rode his orgasam he thrusted inside of Slaine faster and harder. Until he stiffened and held his breath for five seconds, then they both came with the name of the other in their throats.

* * *

Great way to end a scene, no? I hope you liked it. I actually created this story long before season two even came out, my inspiration was a bit fluctuant so it took me a while to write this, but I'm glad I did. I'm such a sucka for OrangeBat and I hope this satisfied your needs as it did mine.


End file.
